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Home My WebLink About2021-09-28 Parks & Recreation Agenda PacketPARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION September 28, 2021 AGENDA 7pm Agenda posted according to PAMC Section 2.04.070.********BY VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ONLY******* Pursuant to the provisions of California Governor’s Executive Order N-29-20, issued on March 17, 2020, to prevent the spread of Covid-19, this meeting will be held by virtual teleconference only, with no physical location. The meeting will be broadcast on Midpen Media Center at https://midpenmedia.org. Members of the public who wish to participate by computer or phone can find the instructions at the end of this agenda. To ensure participation in a particular item, we suggest calling in or connecting online 15 minutes before the item you wish to speak on. https://zoom.us/join Meeting ID: 999 3789 9745 Phone: 1(669)900-6833 I.ROLL CALL II.AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS III.ORAL COMMUNICATIONSMembers of the public may address the Commission on any subject not on the agenda. A reasonable time restriction may be imposed at the discretion of the Chair. The Commission reserves the right to limit oral communications period to 3 minutes. IV.DEPARTMENT REPORT V.BUSINESS 1.Approval of Draft Minutes from the July 27, 2021 ATTACHMENT and August 24, 2021 Parks and Recreation Commission Meetings – Action (5 min) ATTACHMENT 2.Ad Hoc and Liaison Updates – Chair – Discussion (15min) 3.First Tee of Silicon Valley Public/Private Partnership Proposal —Lam Do -- Action -- (60 min) ATTACHMENT 4.Valley Water Purified Water Project – Daren Anderson – Discussion --(30 min) ATTACHMENT 5.Sidewalk Vendor Regulation -- Daren Anderson -- Action – (45 min) ATTACHMENT VI.TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR OCTOBER 26, 2021 MEETING VII.COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS VIII.ADJOURNMENT PUBLIC LETTERS ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org This agenda is posted in accordance with government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting. Public Comment Instructions Members of the Public may provide public comments to teleconference meetings via email, teleconference, or by phone. 1. Written public comments may be submitted by email to ParkRec.Commission@cityofpaloalto.org 2. Spoken public comments using a computer will be accepted through the teleconference meeting. To address the Commission, click on the link below to access a Zoom-based meeting. Please read the following instructions carefully. A. You may download the Zoom client or connect to the meeting in- browser. If using your browser, make sure you are using a current, up-to-date browser: Chrome 30+, Firefox 27+, Microsoft Edge 12+, Safari 7+. Certain functionality may be disabled in older browsers including Internet Explorer. B. You may be asked to enter an email address and name. We request that you identify yourself by name as this will be visible online and will be used to notify you that it is your turn to speak. C. When you wish to speak on an Agenda Item, click on “raise hand.” The Staff Assistant will activate and unmute speakers in turn. Speakers will be notified shortly before they are called to speak. D. When called, please limit your remarks to the time limit allotted. E. A timer will be shown on the computer to help keep track of your comments. 3. Spoken public comments using a smart phone will be accepted through the teleconference meeting. To address the Commission, download the Zoom application onto your phone from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and enter the Meeting ID below. Please follow the instructions B-E above. 4. Spoken public comments using a phone use the telephone number listed below. When you wish to speak on an agenda item hit *9 on your phone so we know that you wish to speak. You will be asked to provide your first and last name before addressing the Commission. You will be advised how long you have to speak. When called please limit your remarks to the agenda item and time limit allotted. https://zoom.us/join Meeting ID: 999 3789 9745 Phone:1(669)900-6833 June 22, 2021 ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org This agenda is posted in accordance with government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting. DRAFT Draft Minutes 1 1 2 3 4 MINUTES 5 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION 6 SPECIAL MEETING 7 July 27, 2021 8 Virtual Conference 9 Palo Alto, California 10 11 Commissioners Present: Chair Anne Cribbs, Keith Reckdahl, David Moss, Amanda Brown, 12 Jeff LaMere, Vice Chair Greenfield 13 Commissioners Absent: 14 Others Present: Council Member Kou 15 Staff Present: Daren Anderson, Catherine Bourquin, Lam Do 16 I. ROLL CALL 17 AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS 18 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 19 Michal Shalon, President of Palo Alto Dog Owners Association, said she has been 20 appearing at the Commission meetings for a few months. Since the last time, she has tried 21 to track down some statistics on dog ownership in Palo Alto. It was difficult to find the 22 information she wanted, but she did find that in 2019 and 2020 combined there were 3,100 23 of dog owner licenses either renewed or new ones. She assumes most of them are new 24 because the renewals happen every three years, so approximately one third of them would 25 be not new puppies. She said she feels there were a lot of pandemic puppies. She estimates 26 there were 1,000 a year, and she feels this is underestimated. In Palo Alto there are only 27 about three-and-one-half dog parks, because she doesn’t count Greer as a full dog park. 28 She feels this population and their pets are underserved. She thinks Parks and Rec have 29 worked hard on trying to get a pilot program for off-leash hours at Ramos. It is very 30 difficult to anticipate what will happen with neighbors. She had hoped that a pilot program 31 rather than a dedicated dog park would help them ease into a situation that neighbors 32 anticipate as problematic. She feels their fears are unfounded, but they will never know if 33 they never get the chance. 34 35 DRAFT Draft Minutes 2 II. DEPARTMENT REPORT 1 Mr. Anderson said the City has been working on a demographic survey for Boards and 2 Commission members as part of the citywide race and equity work. The City Manager’s 3 Office sent a reminder request to the Commissioners to fill out the demographic survey, 4 which is a link from Survey Monkey. Mr. Anderson requested the Commissioners to 5 please fill these out. He gave an update on the skate park progress. They’ve been working 6 with the Ad Hoc and staff and had a productive meeting with Sam Kaplinsky who is 7 spearheading the effort among many other stakeholders. They are working on adding to 8 the stakeholder team, and have a meeting set to discuss a potential location on August 3rd. 9 He hopes they will have made some progress on that and be able to come back to the 10 Commission perhaps at the August meeting with an update and discussion. 11 Mr. Anderson said that the Vice Mayor had reached out to the City Manager’s Office and 12 staff with direction to look into prohibiting campfires and barbecues at Foothills Nature 13 Preserve. Staff is checking with other agencies to learn what policies other agencies, both 14 Santa Clara County and San Mateo County state parks and other nearby agencies, are using 15 in this regard. There is also a Fire Department staff person joining one of the Open Space 16 Rangers for a fuel assessment of Foothills, which will include an assessment of the 17 campground, fire rings and the barbecue areas. He will update the PRC with next steps as 18 they learn more. The Commission was sent an email invitation to a Wildfire Preparedness 19 Community meeting to be held on Thursday, August 19th, 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the 20 Palo Alto Golf and Country Club. There is a link to sign up for that event. 21 Mr. Anderson gave an update on summer camps. There are about 160 in-person camps 22 and 37 virtual camps being offered this summer. There are still registrations for summer 23 classes since there are still two more weeks left in the summer camp schedule. Mr. 24 Anderson shared some nice parent participant comments. One read, “Amazing experience 25 for young kids just learning how to cook. They were so proud of their creations, and the 26 whole family looked forward to each day’s creation. Bravo.” Another comment read, “I 27 just wanted to let you know how amazing my son found Lego camps this summer. They 28 are a fantastic complement to the sports that you also offer.” Another read, “What a great 29 way to get to know your community. Thank you for providing the service. I look forward 30 to signing up for future events and activities.” Also, “My kids have loved their tennis 31 lessons. I’m so happy this is convenient and affordable in a positive environment.” 32 Mr. Anderson reported on swim lessons with an update on the latest numbers. They are 33 still doing the swim lessons through camps. A three-year update showed in July, 2019, 34 there were 960 lessons. In July, 2020, there were 400, a significant drop-off related to 35 COVID. In July of 2021, there have been 1,070. During each swim lesson, each camper is 36 given a lesson per day over the course of a two-week camp. The swim lesson is the main 37 draw of the camp. 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 3 Regarding the Highway 101 bridge, there was not much more to report from last time. It 1 is expected to be completed in August or September, and they are still working on the 2 railing, fencing and lighting. The next step is the landscape and irrigation on the landings 3 on both sides. 4 He reported that Cubberley reopened its facility for indoor rentals last week. The regular 5 rental season for returning organizations begins in September. Some organizations are 6 delaying their start due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Recreation Health Fall 7 Field Brokering meeting was last week. Recreation staff is working on inputting additional 8 requests for the fall season which runs from August 9th through the end of the calendar 9 year. For special events, Recreation has three events planned – a movie night tentatively 10 planned for Friday, September 11th at Mitchell Park at 6:30; the Moonlight Run on Friday, 11 September 17th; and a Jack-O-Jaunt on Friday, October 29th. 12 Chair Cribbs invited any questions from the Commissioners. 13 Vice Chair Greenfield asked how many people they are reaching with all of the camps. 14 Mr. Anderson had a couple stats, broken down into groupings. For special interest summer 15 camps – cooking, coding, Lego, magic and academic camps – there were 331 participants. 16 For tennis, adults and youth, youth soccer, cardio dance and Tai Chi, there were 372. For 17 drop-in boost fitness there were 545. Vice Chair Greenfield asked if there would be a 18 ribbon cutting planned for the Highway 101 Bridge. Mr. Anderson said he has not yet 19 heard this discussed, but he imagines there will be. 20 Commission LaMere said if they were still in a tier, the tier would have changed, in terms 21 of the color tier for COVID. He asked if they will just follow Santa Clara County guidance, 22 or if there is any local guidance that would be followed in terms of summer camps, 23 especially for kids under 12 who are not vaccinated. Mr. Anderson said they will definitely 24 be following Santa Clara County’s guidance. However, the City has just implemented for 25 inside all City facilities, regardless of vaccination status and applying to public and City 26 staff is that you must be masked. Other than that, they will be following County guidance. 27 Chair Cribbs asked if there were any reported cases of COVID during the camps. Mr. 28 Anderson said he had not yet heard of any cases of camp COVID exposures. Chair Cribbs 29 asked if they had had any trouble getting camp counselors, as there is a lot in the news 30 about camps’ inability to find counselors. Mr. Anderson said he has only heard a little and 31 not direct information from Recreation on that, but he inquired at one point, and they said 32 they still had openings. He didn’t think it had hindered their ability to offer the classes. 33 Chair Cribbs asked when the kids are finished with the swimming camps if there is any 34 way to know what the ability of the kids is to swim. She wondered if they are considered 35 water safe when they come out of the camp, or if Tim Sheeper rates their ability at all. Mr. 36 Anderson said he didn’t get that information, but will follow up with him and share that at 37 the next meeting, or set up a time for Chair Cribbs and him to chat with Mr. Sheeper. Chair 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 4 Cribbs said she is very interested in how many kids are really learning to swim and are 1 really water safe. Mr. Anderson asked how the question would be best phrased to Mr. 2 Sheeper. Chair Cribbs said she would be happy to talk to him with Mr. Anderson because 3 it’s a little complicated. The ability to swim a certain number of meters or yards, to dive 4 in and do certain things, and a technique called drown-proofing that allows you to just bob 5 in the water without panicking until help can arrive. She said there are a lot of different 6 ways of looking at it, but it is all obviously very important. 7 Commissioner Reckdahl asked if they are still selling a lot of Foothills Park annual passes. 8 Mr. Anderson said they are still selling them, although he didn’t know the current rate. He 9 will provide an update with total numbers at the next meeting. Commissioner Reckdahl 10 asked how many of the people buying passes are locals and how many are from outside. 11 Mr. Anderson didn’t not have that data, but will look at that as well. 12 BUSINESS 13 1. Ad Hoc and Liaison Updates 14 Baylands Tide Gate - Vice Chair Greenfield said Commissioner Reckdahl and he met with 15 Valley Water staff and Mr. Anderson for an hour-and-a-half, talking about a change to the 16 project that the Commission just recommended a PIO for last month. Mr. Anderson gave 17 an overview of the change. Valley Water had reached out to staff last week and informed 18 them they were going to make a change to a part of the tide gate project. They plan on 19 omitting the levy trail improvements which they described in the discussion of the Park 20 Improvement Ordinance, in which they had planned on adding eight inches of rock and 21 some trail fabric to help the levee hold up to heavy vehicles associated with the 22 construction process. For a number of reasons – permitting, feasibility and timing – they 23 chose to omit those trail improvements, and instead will add trail repairs to the contractor’s 24 responsibilities. They will allocate a certain amount of money so that contractor at the end 25 of every construction season will restore the trail to as good or better condition. At the end 26 of the project they will do the same, to make sure the City is left whole in terms of having 27 a pathway on the levee that is as good or better than the current one. This shifts the burden 28 from doing this ahead of time until after, and the contractor has the responsibility to fix 29 any damage. 30 Mr. Anderson explained that this means they would be required to update the Park 31 Improvement Ordinance and bring it back to the Parks and Recreation Commission. They 32 will target that for August. He feels the meeting was constructive in that regard, that they 33 understand this is important, and they want to be forthright and honest with the community 34 and commissions and council when this eventually goes to them and give them a clear and 35 realistic picture of what the community can expect over this four-year project. Vice Chair 36 Greenfield said from the standpoint of the Ad Hoc, that the change to the plan is not 37 insignificant and it happened right after the Commission made the PIO recommendation, 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 5 and while they appreciate the information that Valley Water shared with them, for full 1 transparency for both the Commission and the community it seems appropriate to have 2 Valley Water return to the Commission to reconsider and recommend the Park 3 Improvement Ordinance. Commissioner Reckdahl also thought it was a constructive 4 meeting, but it would be nice to get an update. 5 CIP Ad Hoc - Commissioner Moss said in regard to the CIP Ad Hoc they mentioned last 6 month that they really don’t have anything to do until late in the year when they are talking 7 about starting the budget process for next year. This year is basically set in stone, so they 8 have not met. 9 Dog Parks and Restrooms – Commissioner Brown said they have been meeting and 10 discussing options. Chair Cribbs said they heard from the head of the Dog Owners 11 Association earlier in the meeting, and they are working with staff to set up a meeting with 12 the community. 13 Fund Development – Chair Cribbs said they will be hearing about this later in the meeting 14 from Jack Morton and Roger Smith. 15 New Recreational Opportunities – Chair Cribbs said there was a great meeting at the 16 Baylands at the 10.5 acres with good discussion. There was a good meeting with the 17 skaters and the staff around moving the skate park forward. 18 Racquet Court Policy – Commissioner Reckdahl said there was nothing to report, but there 19 is an upcoming meeting they will be talking about. Chair Cribbs added that Mandy is on 20 that Ad Hoc as well. 21 Sidewalk Vendor Policy – Commissioner Moss said that Vice Chair Greenfield and 22 Commissioner Brown and he met this past week after the deadline. They were waiting for 23 Mr. Anderson to get feedback back from the Attorney’s Office. He finally got some 24 feedback. The bottom line is they want the Commission to make sure that any changes to 25 the rules are backed up with one or more of three different reasons. One, heath, safety and 26 welfare. Second, ensuring the public use and enjoyment of natural resources and 27 recreational opportunities without being blocked. Lastly, necessary to prevent an undue 28 concentration of commercial activity that interferes with the natural character of the park. 29 He said this is not easy. They had a dozen or so rules to go through, to see how to explain 30 the rule and why it was important. They will meet again next month, but it will take a 31 while to get through this. Commissioner Moss said it was also reported that there is really 32 not that much demand by vendors right this minute, so it’s not like there’s an extreme 33 sense of urgency like they thought. Thus, they are taking their time to do this thoroughly. 34 Vice Chair Greenfield added that part of their determining the level of urgency was 35 consideration of the work they would be putting on staff. If it is not something that there 36 is a high immediate demand for, they want to be respectful in trying to spread out staff’s 37 DRAFT Draft Minutes 6 workload. 1 Liaisons – Chair Cribbs said Aquatics has been covered and updates about Baylands 10.5. 2 Commissioner Brown said they are working with Catherine on touring the Community 3 Gardens. 4 Cubberley – Commissioner Moss said there are no updates at this time. Chair Cribbs asked 5 if there has been a meeting set up between Councilmembers and the School District. 6 Commissioner Reckdahl said there is none scheduled for the summer. Chair Cribbs asked 7 Council Member Kou if she had any information to share on Cubberley. Council Member 8 Kou said Council and the School Board members have been meeting. It is an Ad Hoc 9 committee, but they have not met recently since they went on break. It is still on hold until 10 they return. 11 Field Users – Vice Chair Greenfield said there is a big problem at the synthetic turf fields 12 at Mayfield and El Camino Park with the infill material melting into globs. He said it’s 13 something they tried to address at El Camino Park about a year-and-a-half ago. The 14 solution at that point as he understood it was replacing all of the material that was not 15 properly rated for the geography because it gets too hot for the material and it melts. He 16 said apparently not all of the material was replaced, so now some of the original material 17 that wasn’t replaced is now having the same problem. Also, the same infill material was 18 used at Mayfield at a later date, and now the problem has become evident and significant 19 there. Mr. Anderson commented and said it is very frustrating. They have a meeting 20 tomorrow with the vendor of the infill to try to resolve it and will do their best to get it 21 resolved in a timely process, hopefully better than the El Camino project was done. He 22 explained that when they swapped out the infill at El Camino there is a certain amount that 23 is imbedded in the lower portion of the turf that is hard, maybe impossible, to get out 24 without lifting up the carpet. They are going to try to find a better way at Mayfield to get 25 it fixed. 26 Commissioner Moss asked if there is also a problem at the much newer Cubberley turf 27 field. Mr. Anderson said no. He said the infill company just made a mistake and used the 28 wrong type for the temperature zone. Vice Chair Greenfield said Cubberley was done after 29 the problem was experienced at El Camino, so they made sure not to get the same 30 problematic material. Commissioner Moss said Cubberley was done at least two years ago. 31 Chair Cribbs asked if it was the same vendor for all three fields. Mr. Anderson said it is a 32 different vendor for the Cubberley field. Commissioner Moss asked what the new signage 33 for Cubberley is about. Mr. Anderson said it is focused on rules to protect the track and 34 field. Commissioner Moss said they were having some problems with people at the gym 35 throwing medicine balls, and there was a javelin thrower and things like that which are not 36 good for the field. They had a talk with them, and he hoped that there wasn’t that issue at 37 other fields as well. Vice Chair Greenfield said the rules haven’t been updated since the 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 7 track was changed from the decomposed granite to the synthetic material. 1 Commissioner Moss said the other problem is dogs on the field. Dogs are okay on the 2 track, on a leash, but not on the field. Vice Chair Greenfield said that will be properly 3 reflected in the new signage. Commissioner Moss added that it is important to make sure 4 that people take their trash with them, as there have been issues with games being played 5 and trash being left behind by both teams and audience. 6 Golf – Commission LaMere had no update at this time. Commissioner Moss asked about 7 the kids’ golf camp and the area closest to Embarcadero. He asked if that has been moved 8 forward. Mr. Anderson asked him to clarify which area he was asking about. 9 Commissioner Moss said it was the triangle between Embarcadero and the driving range. 10 Mr. Anderson said this is a part of what First Tee has proposed and wants to partner with 11 the City to make improvements there to make it more useable, including fencing and other 12 improvements. They are still in the discussion phase and looking at the possibility of 13 meeting with Council in a closed session to discuss it. 14 Hawthorns Area Planning – Vice Chair Greenfield said it is quiet right now. He has been 15 in contact and signed up for a status and waiting to get rolling on it. 16 Palo Alto Recreation Foundation – Chair Cribbs said Jack will be talking about this. She 17 commended the Foundation for the music series through the month of June, which was 18 funded in part by Foundation funds. 19 PAUSD – Commissioner Reckdahl had nothing to report. The meetings are tabled for the 20 summer. 21 Safe Routes to School – Vice Chair Greenfield said there was no update. 22 Skateboard Park – Commission LaMere had nothing beyond Mr. Anderson’s report. 23 Sustainability – Commissioner Brown said she talked with Christine to check in. There 24 will be some announcements and engagement opportunities on the Sustainability and 25 Climate Action Plan coming up in the fall. She will keep the Commission apprised of that 26 and share any information. 27 Urban Forestry – Vice Chair Greenfield said he would have a report next month. 28 Ventura Plan – Commissioner Reckdahl had nothing new to add, but he will work with 29 Chair Cribbs to draft a letter for next month. 30 Youth Council – Chair Cribbs said they are not meeting this summer. 31 Chair Cribbs said although it may feel tedious to go through all of the Ad Hoc’s, she 32 DRAFT Draft Minutes 8 appreciates knowing what the committees and liaisons are doing. 1 Council Member Kou asked how substantial the changes to the work for the Baylands tide 2 gates are, and if it is substantial enough to return to Parks and Recreation for consideration. 3 Mr. Anderson said for the project itself in terms of fixing the tide gate it is not substantial. 4 It is really about access for heavy equipment and ensuring that they don’t damage the levee 5 trail that they need to get to it from, or if they did damage it, to repair it. It is a popular trail 6 and there are significant closures associated with it. There are also concerns that the Ad 7 Hoc have spoken to Valley Water to say that they want assurances that the change is not 8 going to push them into higher risk for delaying the project or higher risk for impacting 9 wildlife than they would have normally. If the contractor is now responsible for after-the-10 fact trail improvements, are they going to be rushed and have, for example, two drilling 11 rigs at one time when they might have only had one before? Is the noise going to impact 12 wildlife in a way that they hadn’t predicted? Mr. Anderson said that Valley Water staff 13 understands that those are concerns and they intend to have answers to those kinds of 14 questions when they come back to the August meeting. He thinks it is important enough 15 to warrant a new Park Improvement Ordinance that makes very clear exactly what they 16 are doing, with an opportunity for the community and the Commission to provide input 17 before it comes to Council for review. 18 Council Member Kou asked if there is any compromise to the levee itself since that is 19 where all of the heavy equipment will be. Mr. Anderson said when he says trail and levee, 20 they are synonymous in that regard because people are using the biking and walking on 21 top of that levy. The worry is that most of it is bay mud. It was built long ago and it will 22 have ruts easily in the winter, and some of the work will have to take place there. Since 23 they know ruts will happen it is really about being able to repair. They are looking at doing 24 it proactively, which is what they had originally proposed versus doing it retroactively – 25 causing the damage and then fixing it. Valley Water will explain the nuances as to why 26 because it is a little complicated and multi-faceted. 27 Council Member Kou asked if the levee will be compromised in terms of flooding. Mr. 28 Anderson said no, it will actually be better than it was in terms of flooding, at least in the 29 area near the tide gate. They are not raising any other portions of the levee, just the tide 30 gate replacement because it is so old and the structure is failing. The project does not aim 31 to bring the entire levee system up to flood protection levels, but it will dramatically 32 improve the area immediately around the tide gate itself. Commissioner Moss said it was 33 mentioned that they were originally going to cover the levee with gravel, which would be 34 difficult for bicycles. So they have been talking to them about what kind of material they 35 will use to resurface it so that bicycles could be on it, other than gravel. Mr. Anderson said 36 they have assured them that they will use whatever they want, which will be in-kind. So 37 in an area of smooth Bay mud which looks like dirt, they will use that kind of material to 38 ensure that it ends up being as good as what they started with, or better. He has seen 39 DRAFT Draft Minutes 9 multiple iterations of levee repairs, some very crude, such as large rock with no fines, 1 which is horrible for bicyclists. Conversely, he has seen Class AB, aggregate base rock 2 used where it is perfect, like a street. He thinks they can work with Valley Water to make 3 sure the end product is smooth and appropriate for bicyclists and hikers. They will be 4 responsible for making it like it is, not making it something different or significantly better. 5 2. Presentation from Friends of Palo Alto Parks and Palo Alto Recreation 6 Foundation 7 Chair Cribbs introduced Roger Smith from Friends of Palo Alto Parks, and Jack Morton 8 from the Palo Alto Recreation Foundation. She asked them to provide the Commission 9 with a brief history of their foundations, why they started, how they started and when they 10 started, their activities, and priorities for Palo Alto. Both organizations play a big role in 11 the operation and success of recreation, parks and open space programs. 12 Mr. Roger Smith said in 2003, he and his wife, Judy Kay, decided to form Friends of the 13 Palo Alto Parks, with the main idea being that the City would never have enough money 14 to do all the things that were needed. They are a small group of eight board members 15 headed up by their President, Susan Beall. They have done a number of small projects over 16 the years, such as the Learning Center at Arastradero, the fund for the Bol Park Nature 17 Plant Garden, the Embarcadero Road Pollinator Corridor Project. There have been some 18 major projects as well, such as Heritage Park. One of the things they had hoped over the 19 years was to get neighbors involved. He said a great example is John and Kristine Erving, 20 who live just next to the park, and who headed up that project. A second major project was 21 Lytton Plaza, headed up by Barbara Gross and Chop Keenan and Lee Levy. Lee made a 22 substantial gift, and the fountain there is named after him. Mr. Smith shared that it warms 23 his heart to go through the park and see young people, and it turned out very well. The 24 third and most famous project is the Magical Bridge. He said Olenka Villarreal and her 25 group did an outstanding job. The Dick Perry family made a very large donation to get this 26 done, and Olenka has carried this concept on to other communities. A fourth project is 27 working with the City to get the new signage out at the Baylands in English and Spanish. 28 They donated some money because there were other funding sources, but there was a gap. 29 He said they are a very flexible organization and open to anyone with a great idea for a 30 project. They are a 501(c) so are able to get a fund started, and people that donate can get 31 a tax deduction. He said they are a small group with hearts in the right place and are happy 32 to work with the City and the Commission. 33 Commissioner Moss wondered if they could try to somehow do something with Foothills 34 to bridge the budget gap there, considering all of the wear and tear it’s had the past months. 35 He said when the time comes, he hopes they can do something there. Mr. Smith replied 36 that they would be happy to participate in that and would look forward to visiting in that 37 regard. 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 10 Chair Cribbs mentioned that Friends of Palo Alto Parks has a very nice website. She asked 1 Mr. Anderson how people get to their website from the new City website. Mr. Anderson 2 said he will check. The transition to the new website was a little rough, and he is not sure 3 it is complete yet. Chair Cribbs said she just wanted to make sure that they are visible on 4 the City’s website, as they used to be. 5 Mr. Jack Morton, Palo Alto Recreation Foundation, addressed the Commission. He said 6 he takes a deeper look at what goes on in Palo Alto. He immigrated to America in the 70’s 7 and he and Mary Ellen came to Palo Alto with an 18-month-old. He asked, why would a 8 Canadian come to America at the time of the Vietnam War? He said he thinks this is what 9 framed his view of how commissions and cities work. He thinks in many ways there is a 10 belated response to problems. In his perception and experience, when things are going 11 well, there is a recreation department, there is staffing for things, but the moment there is 12 a downturn, for example, they will lose the only ice skating rink west of the Sierras, or 13 will lose Baylands. In looking at the actual history of the Commission and its values, you 14 will find that the community had to fight for Baylands. He related that his in-laws used to 15 say that when they came from Kansas the Baylands was a garbage pit. Eventually the 16 community got tired of it and changed things. He said organizations like Friends of the 17 Parks, Friends of the Library, and Palo Alto Recreation Foundation evolve because it 18 becomes unbearable in the sense that something that the community values is going to be 19 destroyed. He got involved when he discovered there was an outdoor ice skating rink, and 20 one spring he said goodbye to the founder, who told him “We’re not going to be here next 21 year, because we will be torn down for condos.” He said at that point they started the 22 Winter Lodge, and Ann thought if they started the Winter Lodge maybe they could save 23 the May Day parade and all the other things. 24 Mr. Morton said that the first reaction of the budget people is to eliminate people that don’t 25 “pick up garbage” or don’t “fill potholes.” He said forty years ago the bulk of downtown 26 Palo Alto was not $11-million-dollar houses. It was vacant houses, off-campus housing, 27 and it was an economic downturn. He thinks one of the things that has kept the libraries, 28 parks and recreation going is that they finally as a community said, “This is as important 29 to us as all of the other things that the City does, and which we depend on.” He said that 30 one of the things he will ask the Commission to think about whenever they accept and use 31 funding is to make sure it is permanently dedicated. For example, who would have thought 32 in the 80’s or 90’s that the community might have to fight to save the space in Cubberley? 33 Even though not a giant open space, it is one of the largest open spaces for South Palo 34 Alto. He said he thinks if it weren’t for those of them who cared about those kinds of 35 activities, there would be no pressure on City Council. They would just simply say, “Well, 36 look, we’ve got this lot on Middlefield. It’s got to be worth something. Let’s sell it and use 37 the money,” and then that money just disappears, and the community loses a major asset. 38 Mr. Morton suggested that new ways of fundraising are needed because the City will not 39 be approving anything beyond the existing funding level for the next several years. Staff 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 11 is stretched and cannot add more programs. The kinds of non-profits that historically have 1 raised funds have a harder time because they don’t have the luxury of one parent not having 2 to work and having time for support of public activities. 3 Chair Cribbs asked him and Mr. Smith if it seemed that the Friends of Palo Alto Parks are 4 more focused towards capital kinds of improvements, and the Recreation Foundation is 5 more concerned with supporting programs that Community Services is running. Mr. 6 Morton said this is very close, and they tend to do that. He said they have only done things 7 that are park-related and they tend not to run things. Chair Cribbs said the reason she thinks 8 both of these Foundations are very important for Palo Alto is that in the Master Plan they 9 have talked about support for Parks and also support for Facilities. When the Commission 10 put together their work plan, the Ad Hoc for Recreational Opportunities they had identified 11 three or four areas that were really capital projects. One is the 10.5 acres. One is the skate 12 park, which Council has asked them to look at. There is also the potential City gym, First 13 Tee, and now potential athletic field renovations. 14 Chair Cribbs said it felt to her that it was important for all of the Commissioners to 15 understand what potential funding vehicles are available to them. Both of them are 501(c)3 16 organizations, although the Recreation Foundation may have a different determination. 17 Mr. Morton said there is a dedicated beneficiary, which is the City. Since it is frequently 18 program money that the City is short on, they are dedicated, so most of their monies go 19 directly to City programs. Chair Cribbs said she wanted to make sure they get both of the 20 designations because what they will be looking for, assuming Council approval, is a place 21 where citizens can contribute money to causes that have been outlined by the City Council 22 and supported by the Recreation Foundation. Chair Cribbs invited questions from the 23 Commissioners regarding the history and goals of the two foundations and how they can 24 work together. 25 Commission LaMere thanked the two guests for being present and feels their service is 26 amazing. He hopes they are able to engage younger families and keep them abreast of what 27 is happening and get them involved. He asked Mr. Smith for a brief overview or 28 description of how a project comes to fruition in terms of their involvement, how they 29 raise the funds, if they went to the City first, or if they find an idea and then find the people 30 that might finance it, or if all of them are very different. Mr. Smith responded that Heritage 31 Park was simple because it was raw land at that time, and it was through the neighbors that 32 came forward. It just made sense for to get the neighbors involved. Lytton Plaza came 33 from Roxy Rapp And Lee Levy. He said Lee loves water, and being former mayor and a 34 very generous man, they put together a founder’s group to raise the money. There is a 35 plaque there of those involved. Unfortunately, and very importantly, he said, a lot of the 36 old citizens that grew up here, so to speak, are now gone, and the plaque shows about six 37 people that are deceased. They need to replace them. Fortunately, there is a lot of tech 38 money around town, but it’s not the same and a little harder to get ahold of. Mr. Smith said 39 DRAFT Draft Minutes 12 that Olenka came to them and joined the Board because she had the idea of Magical 1 Bridge. 2 Mr. Smith said in in regard to where they come from, it’s like Henry Kaiser said, “Find a 3 need and fill it.” With the Baylands, he said they have some flexibility in working with the 4 City. They have done several things where they needed an organization that could step in 5 between funders, so they funded some money until the money came through. They tend to 6 be project-oriented, so people come to them. One of his dreams was for every park to have 7 their own Rangers, such as Greer Park or others. One of the things he wanted to throw out 8 to the Commission was, as they get ready to redo a park, he would encourage them to form 9 a fund for that park, because then there is activity, and then they can ask people to 10 contribute, and it would be a nice thing. Once people write a check they will have more 11 interest in the park next door than they otherwise would. Chair Cribbs said they’ve talked 12 about that several times and it is something they would love to do, to help move forward 13 and get support for. She said they would be listening to some information about Boulware 14 Park in a little while and she would suspect that it would be nice to have a small fund to 15 support Boulware Park if it comes to that. 16 Commissioner Brown asked a logistical question. When they are trying to recruit new 17 volunteers to either serve on a board or to get involved in the foundation, what are some 18 ways in which the City or the Commission could be helpful to them in that way? Mr. 19 Morton said what is important to them is continuity and trying to find families near the 20 activity that will sort of police it after they are done with the fundraising. He thinks he has 21 more of a bias now that when outside funds are raised they get permanently dedicated. The 22 City cannot without a vote of the community just come in and decide, for example, it 23 doesn’t want a fountain there anymore, or things like Cubberley and the struggle with the 24 school board over whether or not that remains community-accessible. He said this is where 25 the Commission has to come in. He said they didn’t do this with the Winter Lodge. They 26 traded City land for very expensive at the time – now impossibly expensive money – for 27 the Winter Lodge. But in those cases, when they get the community involved, their efforts 28 should somehow be protected so that the next budget doesn’t put the activity or the capital 29 investment at risk. He thinks one of the things the outside funders, such as the with 30 libraries, there is not quite that risk. With the Children’s Theater there is probably not that 31 risk because there would be such an uproar. But that’s not necessarily the case with 32 something like the old Palo Alto Medical Building that becomes revitalized as the History 33 Museum, and they have to make sure that the City Council doesn’t someday decide that it 34 just doesn’t want that building to be supported. He shared that these are just 40 years of 35 frustration with government from his view. He said the Commissioners are the “warm” 36 side of government, but when they do these big projects they basically have to guarantee 37 their longevity and continuance. While the Magical Bridge in 20 years might need some 38 modifications, but the facility that they save, they must be able to guarantee that it will 39 continue to be saved. 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 13 Mr. Smith added in answer to Commission LaMere’s question, what they have found from 1 business is that you need a champion or a pair of champions to take on any of these projects 2 and then from that you help out. He said he views it as like a start-up. You need someone 3 who is willing to really exert their energy and time to get it done. Chair Cribbs said they 4 are absolutely right in that. The Junior Museum is a great example with a vision early on 5 and a champion and somebody to really create the vision in the community. Any big major 6 projects need as champion or two, like Magical Bridge. 7 Commissioner Moss said in his mind this is a very important conversation to have, and 8 that’s why they have an Ad Hoc for it. The big question he has is they take so much of this 9 for granted, such as the May Fete Parade and the Moonlight Run and now the Halloween 10 event, which he had never heard of before. They have the World Music and the movie 11 nights. Also there used to be the Music in the Park. All of those things require, as stated, 12 a champion and some funding, and they cannot take them for granted. Secondly, 13 Commissioner Moss said talked about how hard it is to get people on the Board, to get 14 people to step up. He wondered if there is a way to do advertising, such as the Daily Post, 15 Palo Alto Weekly, the Enjoy! catalog, because the new blood is needed, a lot of small 16 donors or medium-sized donors, rather than a few very wealthy families, to buy in to the 17 community, and unless you advertise to get the word out it’s only going to be friends of 18 friends. It’s not sustainable because they get old and die off, so how do you replace that? 19 He wondered if there is some way that both organizations could advertise with a list of 20 projects in an ad and get their name out. Mr. Morton responded that all of the programs 21 Commissioner Moss mentioned were Recreation Foundation programs. They got them set 22 up and then what happens? The City they can’t run the Music in the Park. They don’t have 23 the staff. They’ve moved on to another project. He said that’s the hard problem, and he 24 doesn’t know how to solve that problem. Chair Cribbs said she thinks the fact that they 25 can identify that they might want to move forward doing some more either advertising or 26 visibility in some way can help. The function of bringing the guests here was so that the 27 Commission could hear about what they’ve done and their concerns for the future and 28 learn from the collective experience. 29 Commissioner Reckdahl agreed that they have just scratched surface when it comes to 30 fundraising. Every time someone registers on the Enjoy! website, it should pop up a box 31 to say, “Can you donate some money to either the Recreation Foundation or Friends of 32 Palo Alto Parks?” Mr. Morton said they could say something like, “Think of us in your 33 will.” He thinks that this is something worth thinking about. Mr. Smith pointed out that 34 the people that supported all the things we loved are getting to that age. Commissioner 35 Reckdahl said his parents are seniors, and they are right now getting the list of the charities 36 they like and putting them in their will. Also regarding seniors, he said, their house if full 37 of stuff. They don’t need any more objects. But they go for a walk in the park in the 38 morning, and the best birthday present for them is to give a donation to the Parks 39 Foundation, much better than buying them anything else. They appreciate it more. It 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 14 wouldn’t fill up the landfill. There are so many good reasons to do it. Commissioner 1 Reckdahl said they haven’t pushed that. He suggested that every entrance should have a 2 sign saying, “Help support this park. Donate to the Rec Foundation.” He said if you went 3 door-to-door to ask people in Palo Alto what they know about these two foundations 4 maybe 10 to 20 percent of the people know anything about it. Mr. Smith said also a lot of 5 folks have never been to a city council meeting. So they might want to think about having 6 some hero awards, or something to bring out people of various ages to say “Thanks for 7 doing this,” because a lot of City Council stuff is negative, and there is so much positive 8 stuff here. Mr. Smith said there’s a joke in the venture capital community, that the venture 9 capitalists have deep pockets but short arms. That’s what we have here, a lot of money, 10 and we need to extend the arms. Mr. Morton agreed, that is the problem exactly. 11 Vice Chair Greenfield thanked for all that their organizations do and said their partnership 12 is very important for the City, and they want to help foster the relationship so they can be 13 successful in helping the community. He said champions are key, as Mr. Smith pointed 14 out. You need a champion and a project together for it to work. He thinks they are talking 15 about trying to figure out how to simplify the process for the community to contribute back 16 to the community; also, improving the outreach and the awareness to further simplify the 17 process. The Commission is onboard to help and support those goals. 18 Chair Cribbs appreciated all the comments of the Commissioners and said they will take 19 a lot of notes back to the Ad Hoc committees and put together plans to implement that 20 won’t cause too many challenges for the stretched staff. She said they would like to have 21 them both come back in December to show them what they’ve been able to do and continue 22 communicating because they all have everyone’s best interests in mind. She said there is 23 no more fun thing to work on than recreation and open space and parks, and stuff for kids. 24 That is the Commission’s mission and they are grateful to have Friends of the Parks and 25 Palo Alto Recreation Foundation and all that they have done over the years. 26 Council Member Kou thanked both organizations on behalf of the Council for all they do 27 for the city and carrying on the history and traditions of the City. She also mentioned that 28 the Mayor has also implemented for this year having nonprofits come and do a 10- to 15-29 minute presentation prior to Council meetings, so she suggested connecting with staff and 30 put themselves on the calendar, perhaps doing a presentation so that not only the city 31 becomes aware but also Councilmembers and begin to place more emphasis and 32 importance and support towards the organizations. Chair Cribbs thanked her for this good 33 information. 34 3. Park Improvement Ordinance for the Boulware Park Project 35 Mr. Anderson introduced Peter Jensen, City Landscape Architect, who has been working 36 with the community, staff and the Commission on this project. 37 DRAFT Draft Minutes 15 Commissioner Brown recused herself from this item. 1 Mr. Jensen presented the Park Improvement Ordinance for Boulware Park which has been 2 a project they have been working on for a few years. With the addition of the adjacent lot, 3 the AT&T property, the project has expanded into a larger project, so has taken longer 4 than expected. They are asking this evening for the Commission to recommend to Council 5 approval of the Park Improvement Ordinance. The next step in the process is approving 6 the design and the scope of the work. Staff will be working on developing some drawings 7 and building the park, which they hope will happen next summer. He presented slides 8 indicating the Boulware Park and the Birch Street property which was purchased about 9 two years ago. Their plan is to now form these into one Boulware Park. They conducted 10 the community process and outreach that has gone on for the last two years. The project 11 webpage can be accessed at www.cityofpaloalto.org/boulwarepark which has the project 12 summary and presentations that were viewed by the community and Parks and Recreation 13 Commission. Also, a community survey that was completed to extract information from 14 the community, and how they developed the plan. 15 The proposed park design highlights include combining the playgrounds, which is 16 something the design process favored. For the Ventura Community Neighborhood Plan, 17 they set back all of the real development in the park away from Matadero Creek 65 feet, 18 so if there are any future renovations of the creek bed itself, there would be nothing in the 19 way of allowing that to happen. That was seamless in the park and didn’t really impact 20 any of the park amenities at all. They did include existing amenities that are in the park 21 now. There is basketball, open turf areas, the two playgrounds, the picnic space, the 22 walking paths. Those elements are still part of the overall park design. With the new land 23 and adding some more amenities to the park itself which were heard from the community 24 as well as the Parks Commission, and taking some lead from the Parks Master Plan, they 25 are adding a restroom, a dog park, covered picnic areas, a bocce ball area, rain gardens, 26 expanded picnic areas with game tables and expanded loop pathways. They are also 27 expanding some of the street parking along Lambert and providing the park with accessible 28 parking stalls. There is a pump station in the park which will remain as it is. 29 Mr. Jensen presented the plan as it appeared at the January, 2021, meeting. The only 30 difference in the new plan is the two restrooms in the previous plan. This plan has just the 31 one located closer to the playground area. All of the previously-discussed amenities are 32 the same. This was also shared with the community, which was in support of the overall 33 design and amenities. The other aspect of the design that is unique to the project – besides 34 it being a starting over of parkland which they don’t often do since the city is built-out, so 35 it is hard to have a project where there is expansion of park space - they are planning to 36 remove the portion of Ash Street that basically divides the newly-purchased property and 37 the existing park, so that they can combine then into one area, making Chestnut a cul-de-38 sac with a drop-off area in that space. 39 DRAFT Draft Minutes 16 Chair Cribbs asked how big the dog park area is. He responded that it is 0.25 acres. He 1 said when they started to look at dog park areas, they tried to get up to the half-acre size. 2 In developing this park, they decided to make it smaller because the park itself is not a 3 very large park, and also is a community park and not a regional park, so has a smaller 4 user group, mostly the surrounding community. He said he knows they are always trying 5 to find spaces for dog parks, which is in the Parks Master Plan and frequently discussed. 6 They did their best to get a dog space area in the park boundary itself. 7 Commissioner Reckdahl asked if there are utilities under Ash Street that will have to be 8 dealt with. Mr. Jensen replied that there are not. There is a drainage line that they will start 9 to use in an infiltration planter, but there are no utilities that run under Ash Street except 10 drainage, which is connected only to the park and is draining the park. Commissioner 11 Reckdahl asked if the Council has already given permission to do this, or if it will be part 12 of the PIO. Mr. Jensen said the removal of Ash Street to incorporate the full area into a 13 park is included in the Park Improvement Ordinance. Commissioner Reckdahl asked if 14 what used to be Ash will be dedicated parkland. Mr. Jensen said staff is discussing this 15 and the Council will probably have some direction on. It is not currently something that is 16 being actively worked on, but it can still be developed as parkland. The question of making 17 it parkland is still being discussed and will be discussed more with the Commission. 18 Commissioner Reckdahl asked about the corner that currently is blinded, where they 19 currently have issues with people hanging out, if it will give better visibility or if it will 20 be about the same as today. Mr. Jensen thought it will give better visibility, especially from 21 the cul-de-sac. They are going to take away the amenities that are back there. There are 22 currently picnic tables that do provide a location for people to sit in the park all day long, 23 basically. They will move these out of that corner and are not planning on placing anything 24 back there, as it does back up to residential and they want to keep it open to deter the type 25 of gathering that is happening there right now. The pathway in the vicinity is also meant 26 for people to be moving and walking through the area, so it is not just a static space, which 27 will also help with keeping the area open. Commissioner Reckdahl said he hears a lot of 28 complaints about homeless people in Boulware Park and asked if they’ve done anything 29 to make this less attractive. Mr. Jensen said he feels opening up that end of the park and 30 moving the amenities out closer towards Lambert Street will help. The other thing that has 31 come up in the past is the people living in RVs or campers along Ash Street because the 32 lot was undeveloped for so long. He said that was the main issue that the neighborhood 33 had, so by removing that segment of the street it should impact that happening as well. 34 Commissioner Reckdahl asked if it will be two-hour parking, or if that is a park issue or 35 someone else. Mr. Jensen said they will have that discussion with Transportation. He 36 doesn’t imagine that it will be, but it may be something they decide on. Their goal was to 37 meet the ADA requirement of providing necessary stalls. There have to be at least two for 38 the park. It gives a couple more parking stalls, but they will have further discussion with 39 Transportation as to what the parking should be on the street. 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 17 Vice Chair Greenfield asked if there is anything that will stop basketballs from going into 1 the dog park. Mr. Jensen there are fences around each end of the basketball park that are 2 currently six feet on the street side and eight feet on the dog park side, so hopefully that 3 will stop that from happening in that corner. This is the other reason that the dog park entry 4 is located there, because it gives another layer of protection. If something does fly over the 5 fence, hopefully it flies into the little pen area and not out to the fence. Vice Chair 6 Greenfield said this is a consideration that they want to avoid. Mr. Jensen said they are 7 also planning along the back side where there is an existing old hedge planted there. They 8 will leave some of that because it screens the property next door somewhat. In another 9 area of the basketball court they will come back with a much tighter hedge which he would 10 expect to grow 15 to 25 feet over its lifetime, so there will eventually be a much more 11 significant wall behind it. Vice Chair Greenfield asked what is currently circling around 12 the dog park and the right side of the basketball courts. Mr. Jensen said this is the actual 13 lot of the AT&T property that they still have with their switching station. The edge on the 14 right side is parking lot area, so even if a ball does fly over the fence, it would mostly go 15 into their parking lot space. Vice Chair Greenfield said obviously they don’t want it to be 16 a private residence that the dog park backs up onto. 17 Chair Cribbs asked if they are going to use that land they are currently using forever. Mr. 18 Jensen did not think they have asked them that question. He thought the building itself, the 19 switching station, is fairly important, although there doesn’t seem to be a lot of people 20 working in it. They do own the frontage that’s out there, too, which would be nice to have 21 as well, which is just basically a few existing pine trees and a lot of pine needles. There 22 has been no discussion with them about that at all. Commissioner Moss said he thought 23 that was part of the original purchase. Mr. Jensen replied for some reason that is how the 24 lot is broken up . The lot line includes the frontage as shown on the illustration. 25 Vice Chair Greenfield asked if Ash Street will terminate in a turnaround similar to 26 Chestnut. Mr. Jensen said Ash Street is actually a segment of the street shown. Ash Street 27 started as a segment where Chestnut turned into Ash, so they are eliminating that portion 28 of Ash altogether. Lambert will come straight by it, and there will be no turn off into the 29 park anymore. Chestnut will have its own cul-de-sac. Vice Chair Greenfield asked if 30 basically Ash will just go into Lambert and there will be new parking on Ash Street. Mr. 31 Jensen the new parking is actually on Lambert. Vice Chair Greenfield suggested if that 32 could be made more clear in the diagram it would be helpful. Regarding the discussion of 33 whether the area that is no longer a street should become dedicated as parkland, he 34 wondered why that would not be the case. Mr. Jensen said he couldn’t answer that 35 question. It is being discussed, but he is not sure what the pros and cons for it are at this 36 time. Vice Chair Greenfield said he thinks it’s a fairly obvious action for the Commission 37 to pursue in terms of working to get the land dedicated as parkland, because what would 38 be more appropriate to dedicate as parkland than something that is serving as part of a 39 park? Mr. Jensen thought there was some discussion that maintaining it as a street provides 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 18 flexibility with doing things there that if you dedicate it as parkland would be very difficult 1 to do. For example, if one day that development of Fry’s were to come over there a little 2 bit more, there would be some flexibility in that. Vice Chair Greenfield asked if he was 3 suggesting that the plan they are seeing today might not be the plan sometime down the 4 road, the potential exists that the new addition could get ripped out and go back to having 5 a street there. Mr. Jensen said he couldn’t say what would happen in the future. He said 6 they did put the 65-foot setback against the creek which would allow for development and 7 restoration of the creek. Maintaining the road right-of-way there allows for flexibility for 8 future development because of the nature of what’s happening with the discussion of the 9 Fry’s location. Vice Chair Greenfield said that only increases his interest in getting this 10 portion dedicated as parkland. 11 Vice Chair Greenfield asked Mr. Jensen to talk through the process after the Commission 12 recommends approval of the Park Improvement Ordinance that goes to City Council. Mr. 13 Jensen said if the Commission tonight recommended to Council to adopt the Park 14 Improvement Ordinance, they will be taking the Park Improvement Ordinance to Council 15 in the fall, either late September or early October probably. During that time or after the 16 meeting, if there is good support for the plan, staff will start to put the bid documents 17 together which takes a few months to do. They would plan on bidding the project in the 18 springtime, taking the contract approval to the Council for approval in 2022, and then start 19 construction sometime next summer. Construction is estimated to take about 120 days. 20 Vice Chair Greenfield asked if it would be coming back to the Commission for review of 21 the details of the implementation. Mr. Jensen said not in the current schedule. But if the 22 Commission would like to have it come back again to see details they can make that 23 happen. The restroom has to go to the Architectural Review Board to review because it’s 24 a structure, so there will be further comment on that. Vice Chair Greenfield said that would 25 be something for the Commission to review, even perhaps creating an Ad Hoc next year 26 to be reviewing this along with park amenities and consider if there’s a need to bring it to 27 the Commission for a full review. 28 Mr. Jensen shared the Park Improvement Ordinance Scope of Work, which includes the 29 basketball courts and the berm seating area, the prefabricated restroom, the street 30 improvements with the head-in parking stalls and two accessible stalls. They do have to 31 maintain some drive access for the Water District to access the creek, so they will be 32 maintaining that. There is the street plantings. There is the picnic area, the bocce ball 33 court, the dog park, the open grass area, the loop pathway that is composed of both asphalt 34 and decomposed granite. There are both playgrounds, one for older kids and one for 35 younger kids. There is a new crosswalk that they will be putting on Fernando Avenue, 36 which is part of the ordinance, the incorporation of a portion of Ash Street into the overall 37 park area, the cul-de-sac for Chestnut, new site amenities through the whole park – 38 benches, tables, trash cans, et cetera. There is low flow irrigation and native planting – 39 going back into a drought they are cognizant of doing that. They also need to meet new 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 19 drainage requirements and filter the water coming off the park before it goes into the creek. 1 Finally, there is lighting and new fencing around the residential areas, which needs to be 2 redone. 3 Commissioner Moss said all of those amenities are examples of things they could fund-4 raise for through Friends of Palo Alto Parks. He wondered how they could do that. In other 5 words, they will bid for the whole project, but he asked how they can get the community 6 to buy some of those things and reduce the overall cost to the City. Mr. Jensen said it was 7 something that staff would have to meet to discuss. He thought probably the way to do it 8 would be to advertise now before the actual project goes out to bid to try to secure some 9 funding before, so they know which amenities are being covered and which need to be 10 purchased by the contractor. This is something that staff can work on and get back to the 11 Commission on. He said they do have the park bench program currently that they can start 12 to use, at least as a template. It could include other park amenities. Right now it is for 13 benches, but that would be probably the easiest one to start out with, by putting word out 14 that there are benches in the park that could take donations. Commissioner Moss said they 15 can go ahead with the Park Improvement Ordinance and through the process until they get 16 to the bidding part, so there is a month or two to see about getting an advertisement out. 17 Mr. Jensen agreed and said the project would probably go out to bid sometime around 18 February or March of next year. Chair Cribbs asked if Mr. Jensen anticipated there being 19 a gap in the funds they have allocated and what it’s going to cost. Mr. Jensen said they 20 requested funding for the full project, and that’s what they were given, so at this point they 21 are fully funded, unless prices go up. Commissioner Moss said that was his question. If 22 it’s fully funded and they can get some donations, what happens to the money from the 23 fully-funded project? Does it just go back into the general fund? Mr. Jensen said yes. At 24 the end of the project, if there are funds left in the capital improvement project, they are 25 basically put back into the capital improvement funds to use for other projects. 26 Commission LaMere asked if the park would be closed for the entire three months of 27 construction or if it would be staged with certain parts open and other parts closed. Mr. 28 Jensen thought for this park the whole area would be closed. Commission LaMere 29 expressed that they did a great job on the plan and he always loves to see Mr. Jensen’s 30 work. Chair Cribbs asked if there are any further community meetings they need to have. 31 Mr. Jensen said he reached out to the Ventura community so there is something they might 32 have, to give them an update on what’s happening. Because of the scale of the project, he 33 thought they would start putting up signage in the park a lot earlier than usual for 34 renovation projects, so in the next couple months they will start putting this plan up and 35 getting word out that the idea is to do construction. There will be a lot of community 36 outreach regarding the project. 37 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 20 MOTION 1 Approval to recommend that the City Council adopt the Park Improvement Ordinance as 2 specified in the attachment to the staff report was moved by Vice Chair Greenfield and 3 seconded by Commission LaMere. The motion passed 5-0-1, by roll call vote, with 4 Commissioner Brown abstaining. 5 Chair Cribbs said this is exciting, hearing about this for a long time, and then the ability to 6 buy the additional property. She requested a tour at some point. Mr. Jensen said he will 7 keep that in mind as they go along with the process. He said hopefully within the next few 8 weeks they will start the renovation of Rinconada Park as well, which is very exciting also. 9 Chair Cribbs asked if Rinconada Park is also fully funded. Mr. Jensen replied that it is. 10 Commissioner Moss commented to Mr. Anderson that the little corner of the AT&T 11 property that wasn’t included in the purchase, he would like to recommend that they go 12 back to Real Estate and Legal and try to buy it. He was almost certain they purchased that 13 with the original purchase and was surprised that they didn’t get that piece. If they could 14 get that piece now, or in two years, he wondered if they could they come back and increase 15 the dog park or perhaps put a little bit of parking on Chestnut. Mr. Anderson said they 16 bought what was available for sale. They could ask AT&T if they are interested in selling 17 more. He certainly thought in the future if they were willing to sell any of it, the more 18 parkland the better, so it would make sense to keep their eye on it. He said he will talk to 19 Real Estate to see if there are any openings for a conversation with AT&T. 20 V. TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR THE AUGUST 24, 2021 MEETING 21 [Commissioner Brown returned to the meeting] 22 Chair Cribbs said when he and Mr. Anderson talked last there were several tentative items. 23 Mr. Anderson said a lot of things are still tentative. The Sidewalk Vendor Regulations, the 24 Ad Hoc had mentioned they are working on it, but still have quite a bit. They are targeting 25 September as the date. The Skate Park, there is the meeting upcoming with the 26 stakeholders. This is a possibility for the August meeting but not guaranteed. It would not 27 be an action item, but a discussion item. The Ad Hoc can be discussing that soon after the 28 August 3rd meeting. He had talked with the Chair and Vice Chair about an informational 29 report from Valley Water on a purified water project. They have been looking at the former 30 Los Altos sewage treatment plant adjacent to the Baylands Preserve. They talked to them 31 about coming to the Parks and Recreation Commission with an informational presentation. 32 They recently tentatively for the September meeting, but they could not do August. The 33 Fire Safety update was another one talked about, but there are currently no plans from the 34 Fire Department or Office of Emergency Services to present to the Commission. However, 35 they have a community meeting on August 19th, and Council has asked the Fire 36 Department to present a study session on fire safety tentatively scheduled for September 37 DRAFT Draft Minutes 21 20th. Lastly, he said they talked about the memo to Council and VCAP regarding parkland. 1 Commissioner Reckdahl talked about coming up with a letter at the August meeting, which 2 could be put on the agenda. Also regarding a recycled water line, he has not connected 3 with Public Works on that yet, but he thinks they could give either a brief update to include 4 in the Department report, unless they have something substantial. Vice Chair Greenfield 5 reminded there is also the Tide Gate discussion which seems likely for August. Vice Chair 6 Greenfield asked if the people involved with the purified water information any of the 7 same people they would be working with on the tide gate project. Mr. Anderson said they 8 are not. Vice Chair Greenfield thought it would be worth mentioning to the purified water 9 people that the tide gate people will be presenting a case that is reason for them to want to 10 try to make it to the same meeting for a presentation if that was possible. 11 Chair Cribbs said since the Fire Department is not able to come to them, she wondered 12 about some of the Commissioners going to that meeting at Palo Alto Hills Country Club 13 and having some time on the agenda to report back to the Commission. She said it seems 14 like all of the Commissioners are very interested in fire safety, especially at Foothills Park 15 and Arastradero. Mr. Anderson thought this was a great idea. Commissioner Moss added 16 that he would like it to be on Zoom, saying he doesn’t understand how they can have a 17 community meeting only in-person, so if that’s at all possible to get that message back to 18 them he would appreciate it. Mr. Anderson said he will check with them on that. Chair 19 Cribbs said at the least it would be good for the Commission to have something to 20 understand and think about. The last time they talked about fire safety was when the 21 neighbors of Foothills Park came from Portola Valley a couple years ago. So that would 22 be good. Mr. Anderson thought they had enough to have a meeting. 23 Mr. Anderson thought the tide gate subject is important and time-sensitive, and with 24 adding the memo on NVCAP it would be worth having the meeting. Chair Cribbs said 25 also the Ad Hoc could get together and do a quick advertising outreach for funding from 26 what they learned tonight. Vice Chair Greenfield added that Skate Park might make it as 27 well. Commissioner Moss asked if the Los Altos sewage treatment plant would be a whole 28 separate subject, or if it tied in with something else. Mr. Anderson said it is tied in with 29 the water project he mentioned. They are looking at that side as a potential location for a 30 water purification plant. Commissioner Moss said they paved over the entire piece of land 31 and put up a giant fence with barbed wire within the past eight months. Also, he thought 32 it was going to be used for Safe Parking, but that project was moved over by the Athletic 33 Center. He asked if they will use this area at all for that purpose. Mr. Anderson said he had 34 not heard any conversations about using the LATP for Safe Parking right now, but he did 35 not know. Commissioner Reckdahl said San Antonio does not have any water or sewage, 36 so it made it hard to do the Safe Parking there. Vice Chair Greenfield asked if Council 37 Member Kou had any additional information on this. She replied that she did not, but she 38 did have a question. She asked if consideration for the water purification required an EIR. 39 Mr. Anderson thought so. It was a fairly significant build-out and everything was very 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 22 tentative. He has only been involved in one brief meeting, so a lot of the information they 1 would present would be new to him as well, both would be learning more if they came. It 2 was very tentative and high level when they talked to him about it. 3 Vice Chair Greenfield had a quick question on the wildfire preparedness meeting, 4 whether it was just for Palo Alto or other communities as well. Mr. Anderson wasn’t 5 sure and didn’t know that there is a limit on it. He thought they could invite whomever 6 they wanted and thought they were envisioning the surrounding Foothills area as the core 7 audience. Vice Chair Greenfield asked if the outreach is beyond Palo Alto or extending 8 to Los Altos Hills, et cetera. Mr. Anderson said he would assume so, as it is being led by 9 the Fire Department and Office of Emergency Services. They intend to invite 10 MidPeninsula Regaionl Open Space to have a table there, for example, and he assumes 11 they would be inviting their own constituents as well. There is a limit to the number of 12 people in the building, he thought around 100-some. Vice Chair Greenfield wondered if 13 there would be a similar need for a Foothills Nature Preserve or Arastradero Preserve 14 table. Mr. Anderson they are planning to have an Open Space Ranger there. 15 16 COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 17 Chair Cribbs said she hopes everyone is enjoying the Olympic Games, because she very 18 much is and was very happy to hear earlier from Mr. Smith that Katie Ledecky had won 19 her 1500, which is the first time women have ever swum that race in the entire Olympic 20 Games. 21 ADJOURNMENT 22 Meeting adjourned by motion by Commissioner Moss, second by Commissioner 23 Reckdahl, at 8:56 p.m. 24 DRAFT Draft Minutes 1 1 2 3 4 MINUTES 5 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION 6 SPECIAL MEETING 7 August 24, 2021 8 Virtual Conference 9 Palo Alto, California 10 11 Commissioners Present: Chair Anne Cribbs, Keith Reckdahl, David Moss, Amanda Brown, 12 Jeff LaMere, Vice Chair Greenfield 13 Commissioners Absent: 14 Others Present: Council Member Kou 15 Staff Present: Daren Anderson, Catherine Bourquin, Lam Do 16 I. ROLL CALL 17 Chair Cribbs noted that the Paralympic Games in Tokyo is tonight, opening ceremonies. 18 The games will run until September 4th. 19 II. AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS 20 III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 21 Paul Goldstein, Palo Alto Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee member, addressed 22 the Commission and commented that at their August meeting the Committee sent a note 23 to their staff to please work with Parks and Recreation Commission staff to request a 24 change in the signage at Gate D of Foothills Park. It is currently signed, “No Bicycles,” 25 although bicycles are, in fact, allowed in Arastradero Preserve up to the gate and also up 26 to the gate in Foothills Park where there is a paved road. He said the original justification 27 for the closure was that the gate was opened when Foothills Park was open only to 28 residents of Palo Alto, and the Bay-to-Ridge Trail ran through it. As a condition of funding 29 the Coastal Conservancy and the County of Santa Clara requested that pedestrians be 30 allowed through the gate. A bicycle could not get on the trail in Foothills Park because the 31 trail runs along hiking trails where bicycles are prohibited. However, at this time there is 32 no real reason to not permit bicycles to enter or exit the park. He said it creates a bad sense 33 of government action, being a prohibition without a justification at this time. He said he 34 believes a meeting has been or will be set up between Parks and Recreation Commission 35 DRAFT Draft Minutes 2 staff and members of the Commission, and they look forward to discussing the issue. 1 Monica Williams, President, Palo Alto Pickle Ball Club, addressed the Commission and 2 said they now have a thriving pickle ball community, thanks to the Commission and the 3 City. She updated the Commission, stating they are on track to end the year with 700 club 4 members, of which over 50 percent are Palo Alto residents. With another13 members the 5 club would include 0.5 percent of all Palo Alto residents. They are happy to report that 6 other cities, including Menlo Park, Mountain View, Portola Valley and Sunnyvale are also 7 providing pickle ball for their communities. Many more young people are now playing, 8 and families are finding pickle ball to be an easy sport to play together, greatly increasing 9 the number of players, many of whom can only play in the evenings. This is why they 10 request the Commission to consider extending the hours to allow more evening play. 11 Currently, from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. two of the tennis courts are shared with pickle ball 12 players who put up seven temporary nets when tennis players are not there. The seven nets 13 can accommodate 28 pickle ball players, or seven families of four. At any given time, 16 14 pickle ball players can play on the same amount of space as one tennis court, which results 15 in efficient use of park facilities. She said that Joe Athon [phonetic], avid pickleball player 16 and retiree from the Palo Alto Fire Department, has created an excellent independent 17 survey of usage on all of the lighted Palo Alto tennis and pickleball courts, which they 18 hope will help staff understand the growing needs of the pickleball community and the 19 options available. She concluded with an invitation to anyone feeling down in the dumps, 20 to go over and visit them on the pickleball courts, and they will feel better in no time. 21 IV. DEPARTMENT REPORT 22 Mr. Anderson updated the Commission on the skatepark progress. The Ad Hoc and staff 23 had a productive meeting with Sam Kaplinsky and additional stakeholders. Feedback 24 included support for building a new skatepark around the existing skatepark. They will 25 likely need to hold a community meeting to discuss with the broader skateboard 26 community – neighbors, other park visitors – as a next step. He will meet with the 27 skatepark Ad Hoc later this week when they will discuss those next steps. 28 Regarding Recreation’s summer camps, they were very successful this year. Despite 29 continuing to offer smaller group camps, they had over 900 summer camp registrations. 30 There were 160 in-person camps and 37 virtual camps offered. A highlight the campers 31 shared with Mr. Anderson was having Mayor DuBois visit the last day of the second 32 Kidizens Camp. He made a special appearance on July 23rd at the camp, where campers 33 were building their own small-scale cities with Legos. The campers built their own 34 versions of the cities, including police stations, schools and grocery stores. They were 35 eager to show the Mayor where his house would be in their cities and enjoyed hearing 36 about the Mayor’s duties. 37 Mr. Anderson said the Fourth of July, Music in the Park was a great success. There was a 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 3 large crowd, similar in size to previous chili cookoff crowds. Food trucks, kids’ activities, 1 and live music led to a very successful event. Recreation staff is considering keeping the 2 same format for future Fourth of July events. He said there is a movie night on Friday, 3 September 10th. They will be showing Zootopia and incorporating the overall theme on 4 Emergency Responders Appreciation Night. They will be showing a “thank-you” slide 5 show before the movie, showing Palo Alto emergency responders in action, including Palo 6 Alto Police, Fire and Office of Emergency Services. They are working on the possibility 7 of having first responders present to interact with the public prior to the start of the movie. 8 He said there will be more information to come. 9 The fall programming for Community Services will begin registration for residents on 10 August 26th and non-residents on September 2nd, with a full range of class offerings. He 11 said the Cubberley facility has been open for indoor rentals since July 13th. There is an 12 indoor mask mandate for all individuals regardless of vaccination status. He also reported 13 that the Moonlight Run and Walk will be held on September 17th, both in-person and 14 virtually, which is a 5K walk and run, a 10K run and a half-marathon. He said Recreation 15 is adhering to the mask mandate ensuring that all indoor program participants are wearing 16 masks, including rentals, programs and in-person customer visits. 17 Mr. Anderson said that Public Works advised him that the Rinconada Park Improvement 18 project will start in a few weeks. He will send the Commission more information as 19 available. The Highway 101 bridge is expected to be completed this fall, tentatively the 20 end of October. There was a question at the last meeting if there was a ribbon-cutting 21 planned. The project manager advised that they would plan a ribbon-cutting to happen 22 shortly after the project is completed but are holding off on setting a date until closer to 23 the completion date. 24 He said there has been in issue of infill on the synthetic turf field at El Camino Park. This 25 happened back in 2019 and was due to the properties of the infill, later determined to be 26 non-compatible with local weather and heat, which resulted in the infills sticking together 27 and clumping. The vendor replaced the infill at El Camino Park in the fall of 2019. 28 Unfortunately, some of the old infill could not be removed as it was down low and matted 29 in. Over time, it worked its way up. There is not a lot, but it continues to clump and cause 30 problems. Mr. Anderson said staff is doing their best to remove the material as they find 31 it, but the bigger problem is that the infill at Stanford Palo Alto Playing Fields is now 32 exhibiting the same problem of sticking and clumping, because it is the same material that 33 was not appropriately rated for the climate. Staff has been working with the vendor to 34 resolve the problem. Unfortunately, almost all of the contractors that worked on the project 35 have either changed owners or gone out of business. However, the new owner of the 36 company that manufactured the infill has some remaining inventory of the appropriate 37 kind of infill for the Palo Alto area and will provide it at no cost. He said they are working 38 with the town’s attorneys on the issues and he will update the Commission when he has a 39 DRAFT Draft Minutes 4 timeframe for when the infill will be replaced at Stanford Palo Alto. 1 On the Rinconada Park project, he said Peter Jensen advised him that construction will 2 begin on September 14th and is anticipated to be completed on December 21st. The entire 3 end of the park will be fenced off during construction and the larger main turf area will 4 not be available, nor will the group picnic area. 5 Recreation staff advised Mr. Anderson to give a heads-up to the Commission that the 6 Cubberley seasonal lighting is coming again. This is where lights are brought out to extend 7 practice. It will run from November 8th through December 23rd, and January 3rd through 8 March 11th from sunset to 8:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This is for practice time 9 only They request that night times go through the Cubberley Community Center – no drop-10 off or pick-up on Nelson. Adam Howard will send out informational reminder postcards 11 to the homes around Cubberley to let them know around mid-October. 12 Mr. Anderson said in a previous report he had discussed the drought and how staff is 13 conserving water by strategically reducing water in aesthetic turf areas while ensuring that 14 playing fields and areas with trees are appropriately watered. Irrigation staff are regularly 15 inspecting the irrigation systems around the city and promptly making repairs or 16 addressing issues to avoid water waste. There may be some non-playing-field turf areas 17 that are a bit less green than during non-drought periods due to this water conservation 18 effort. 19 Mr. Anderson said at the last meeting there was a question about Foothills annual passes 20 and how they are selling, and if they are selling them to local or out-of-town visitors. He 21 cited that to date there have been 469 annual passes sold, seven to low income, ten to active 22 duty or veterans, and 135 for seniors; and 311 of the 469 were passes sold to Palo Alto 23 residents, and 158 to non-Palo Alto residents. He said sales have tapered off and they are 24 now averaging about 10 to 15 a week. In the initial few weeks after opening when people 25 were rushing to get them sales were around 200. 26 Mr. Anderson reported that the hillside barbecues have been removed. The Commission 27 had made a recommendation to Council, and Council directed staff to take action to 28 remove them. There has been no negative feedback from park visitors. They were 29 seldomly used, and there have been no complaints. 30 Regarding the Supervising Ranger position, vacant for close to two years, they received 31 approval to fill the position, it is now posted for recruitment and they are actively working 32 on getting back to full staffing. The visitation at Foothills seems to be holding steady, with 33 still no closures since Easter. The Supervising Ranger had shared that for July there were 34 26,000 visitors. This is typically the busiest month of the year, and this is about 12,000 35 more visitors than typical in previous Julys. 36 DRAFT Draft Minutes 5 Mr. Anderson shared that there is a Council study session on wildfire preparedness on 1 August 30th that may be of interest to Commissioners. The Vice Mayor had reached out 2 to the City Manager and asked if staff could look into the appropriateness of campfires 3 and barbecues in Foothills Nature Preserve, given the wildfire concerns. In response, and 4 in addition to some other needs, the Palo Alto Fire Department had a staff person join one 5 of the Open Space Rangers for a site visit, a field survey, in both Foothills Nature Preserve 6 and Pearson Arastradero on July 28th. They gave feedback on how the work is looking in 7 terms of what has been already achieved in wildfire protection efforts and other things that 8 can be improved upon. The general feedback was the status of this year’s work and the 9 work that is still visible from prior years, is considerable and looking good. Staff didn’t 10 find any significant issues but did point out a few areas that need attention and made some 11 recommendations. They were largely around pruning of trees in select areas, specifically 12 some eucalyptus trees needing either heavy pruning or possible removal, depending on the 13 situation. They also gave some guidance regarding trimming branches around the 14 Interpretive Center and keeping the gutters free of leaf litter. This has already been taken 15 care of with staff this year. Some continued weed whipping around the perimeter of the 16 maintenance shop was mentioned, and this was competed by staff shortly after the survey. 17 They will continue their regular practice of removing leaf litter around the barbecues in 18 Orchard Glen and Oak Grove, which is traditionally done with Rangers clearing out the 19 brush. They talked about the campfire circles, specifically looking at the two that are at 20 Towle Camp. Currently, they are not allowing campfires this camping season. However, 21 the fire fighter said the way they are being maintained, he didn’t feel that barbecues or 22 campfire circles posed a significant risk if they continued to be adequately maintained as 23 they currently are. 24 Mr. Anderson shared that they did some analysis of what some neighboring communities 25 are doing in terms of campfires and barbecues. They spoke with San Mateo County Parks, 26 who allow only charcoal barbecues, the same as Palo Alto. During high-risk days they 27 may close select barbecues. During red flag days, Palo Alto closes them. They do not allow 28 any wood burning in their parks, but do allow charcoal barbecues in their campground. 29 State parks allow both wood fires and barbecues, and on red flag days they don’t allow 30 either charcoal barbecues or wood fires. However, they do allow propane camp stoves. 31 Santa Clara County Parks allows wood fires and barbecues – charcoal only – but require 32 a ten-foot clearance around the barbecues, which Palo Alto meets or exceeds. On red flag 33 days they prohibit wood fires but allow charcoal barbecues. 34 Mr. Anderson attended a Hawthornes Area meeting plan, the Mid-Pen planning process 35 for their Hawthornes area, in proximity to both Pearson Arastradero and Foothills Nature 36 Preserve. The meeting was to comment and review the draft vision and goals for the 37 Hawthornes Area. Their next meeting will be in fall, 2021, and they will present the final 38 vision and goals for recommendation to the Board. They will also discuss the concept of 39 forming a working group for recommendation to the Board. 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 6 Mr. Anderson recognized Catherine Bourquin, who is retiring from the City in October. 1 This will be her final Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. He thanked her for her 2 dedication, hard work and tremendous contributions to the City over her 31 years of 3 service. Chair Cribbs echoed the tribute to Ms. Bourquin and said they will miss her 4 terribly. They appreciate all the dedication over the years and all the requests done with 5 cheerfulness and enthusiasm. The Commissioners wished her well and acknowledged her 6 past efforts on many projects. 7 Vice Chair Greenfield asked Mr. Anderson about the Fourth of July events and that staff 8 is considering doing something similar in the future. He wondered if the chili cookoffs 9 would be continuing. Mr. Anderson said these were just initial responses to the different 10 way of doing it. Part of the idea of considering moving away from the chili cookoff was 11 the challenge of securing teams, ticket sales and cash handling as well as dealing with long 12 lines and chili selling out, which created some negative experiences. These were avoided 13 with the recent event. He said it was just a thought and added that they would welcome 14 feedback from the Commission on the idea. Vice Chair Greenfield said if people hear that 15 the chili cookoff might go away it might be a way to spur new interest and getting people 16 to sign up. 17 Regarding the drought and strategic water irrigation reduction, Commissioner Moss asked 18 if community members see issues with the grass, what they should do or who they should 19 contact. Mr. Anderson said if it’s routine, less than bright green grass, it’s probably not a 20 problem. Residents are always welcome to call or email or report on 311. More often, the 21 concerns he gets have to do with a pooling of water, a broken irrigation head, a stuck valve 22 where its clear that one little area is not being irrigated and the rest of the area is. On these 23 types of things, the sooner they are notified the better. Vice Chair Greenfield asked if 311 24 is the best way to communicate such things. Mr. Anderson thought that was a good way 25 but didn’t discourage from using any other techniques; all are welcomed. He said the turf 26 replacement is a difficult ongoing issue and he appreciated the effort staff is putting into 27 it. 28 Commissioner Reckdahl asked in regard to the turf replacement if the people who installed 29 it are going out of business but the manufacturer is not. Mr. Anderson said the 30 manufacturer also went out of business. Another company bought part of their profile, but 31 they are moving out of the infill area altogether. TPE was a company in Italy, and they 32 went out of business, but the manufacturer sold off a good portion of their supplies and 33 remainder of the facilities. They are willing to honor at least providing the remaining infill 34 inventory that they have, which is adequate to replace the infill at Stanford Palo Alto. He 35 said the turf itself is not the problem. It is the infill only. Commissioner Reckdahl asked if 36 there is anything that might damage the turf itself. Mr. Anderson said even when the infill 37 gums up badly, it is easy to separate from the turf, as it catches on the players’ cleats. It’s 38 seen a lot on the sidelines. 39 DRAFT Draft Minutes 7 Commissioner Moss asked how many in-person camps there were. Mr. Anderson said 160. 1 Commissioner Moss thought this was incredible the number of camps. He said there was 2 a letter to the Commission about Los Trancos Trail degradation and he asked if this was 3 something that the Rangers could handle. Mr. Anderson said the Rangers did go out and 4 inspect it a few days after the email. There were no safety issues. It was the routine 5 sloughing. He explained that some of the Los Trancos area is on the edge of a steep hillside 6 and regularly there are little washouts, where anywhere from two to three, even six-foot-7 wide soil that has sloughed off the edge and onto the trail and has to be cleared. This 8 happens periodically. It wasn’t enough to require any heavy equipment. He said there is 9 also no easy and permanent fix for this type of thing. The only thing would be relocating 10 the trail to an area not on such a steep drop-off. The soil above it is unstable, and will 11 continue to this periodically, especially after storms. They will simply have to always keep 12 their eyes on, but it was not a safety issue. 13 Commissioner Moss asked when recruiting for Commissions occurs. Mr. Anderson said 14 he will check with the Clerk’s office and get an update on next steps for that. 15 Commissioner Moss said he had asked about the triangle of the AT&T property not 16 acquired for park land. He wondered if this had been brought up with the attorneys. Mr. 17 Anderson said he did discuss that with the Assistant Director of Public Works Engineering. 18 The area is called the Measure E site. It is ten acres of land that were undedicated as park 19 land to use for future anaerobic digestor area. Commissioner Moss clarified that he was 20 referring to the little triangle of property next to Boulware Park that didn’t come across in 21 the purchase. Mr. Anderson said the real estate agent advised it is not for sale. He will 22 keep his eyes open if it comes up. Commissioner Moss asked regarding the ten acres for 23 the anaerobic digestor. Mr. Anderson said he talked to Phil Noble about it. He is looking 24 into options for going forward. He will ask him or a colleague of his to come to a future 25 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to discuss this. 26 Commissioner Brown inquired about the tree pruning in Foothills, whether the magnitude 27 is clearing massive areas and a multi-year effort. She said it can expensive and time-28 consuming, and she asked if it is something that can be accommodated in the current 29 budget or something that is going to need to be planned for. She asked if there is any work 30 with the City arborists to look at tree help in the future. Mr. Anderson did not feel they 31 would be able to fully cover the cost of pruning all of the trees with the existing Open 32 Space budget, but perhaps in combination with Public Works they can see what’s feasible. 33 He thought between Foothills and Pearson-Arastradero there are approximately 75 to 90 34 eucalyptus trees. The big ones needing the pruning are probably not as numerous. He 35 agreed that pruning is not cheap, especially in remote areas where they need to get chippers 36 and heavier equipment in. It’s also possible that some would be cited for removal rather 37 than pruning, but this is also expensive, and time-consuming to build support for the 38 removal of them. Regarding arborists doing analysis on tree health and safety, they do get 39 support from Public Works. They have the Urban Forest team who comes up to the Open 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 8 Space areas to do analysis in all parks in terms of whether a tree has failure points. They 1 predominantly look in areas close to activity sites, such as picnic, playground or a trail 2 areas. They do risk assessments and help them periodically. 3 Chair Cribbs asked if the half-marathon he mentioned with the Moonlight Run is new. If 4 so, what is the course? Mr. Anderson said he would have to email it to her, but it has been 5 part of the Moonlight Run for quite some time. Chair Cribbs said she didn’t realize that. 6 And wondered if it was a double loop or if they are incorporating more than the 10K run. 7 Commissioner Brown thought it is a loop, multiple loops around the same area. 8 Chair Cribbs asked how the Rinconada Park closure for renovations will be communicated 9 to the public. Mr. Anderson said there will be large project signs posted in a couple areas 10 with a website link and some other methods that Public Works Engineering will utilize. 11 Chair Cribbs observed in regard to Rinconada and when driving on Embarcadero down on 12 the right hand side towards Stanford, there are now big swashes of color around about five 13 of the eucalyptus trees and she wondered what they are there for. Mr. Anderson did not 14 know. Chair Cribbs thanked him for his great report and said staff has been doing a great 15 job all summer long, especially during the pandemic. 16 V. BUSINESS 17 1. Approval of Draft Minutes from the June 22, 2021 and July 27, 2021 Parks and 18 Recreation Meeting 19 Chair Cribbs said she and Commissioner Moss weren’t able to access the July 27th minutes 20 until a little bit ago and asked if the other commissioners had access. Commission LaMere 21 and Commissioner Reckdahl said they did not see them earlier today. It was decided to 22 delay approving them until next month. Ms. Bourquin said the link was broken, but is 23 fixed now. 24 MOTION 25 Approval of the draft Minutes from the June 22, 2021, Parks and Recreation meeting was 26 moved by Commissioner Moss and seconded by Commissioner Reckdahl. The motion 27 passed 4-0-1, by roll call vote, with Vice Chair Greenfield abstaining. 28 Approval of the minutes from the July 27, 2021, Parks and Recreation Commission 29 meeting was moved to the agenda for the next meeting. 30 Chair Cribbs said she appreciates the way the minutes are being done and wondered if the 31 transcribing cost is being impacted. She appreciates the history and background and hopes 32 it can continue. Commissioner Moss said if this delay is because it’s too hard to do in 33 timely fashion, he did not mind the verbatim minutes. He said he likes the summary 34 DRAFT Draft Minutes 9 minutes, but verbatim would be okay as well. Ms. Bourquin said it was a mix-up as far as 1 not knowing they were to start doing summary again. She added that keeping the meetings 2 to two hours definitely lowers the cost. Commissioner Reckdahl asked what the relative 3 cost for verbatim compared to summary is. Ms. Bourquin summary takes longer, but the 4 cost has gone down from over the last few months. Commissioner Reckdahl said verbatim 5 is easier to search, but for just getting the gist of the subject matter, summaries are easier 6 to read. Commissioner Moss said he has no trouble with either one. Chair Cribbs suggested 7 they revisit the subject in a couple months and see how they feel about it. Council Member 8 Kou asked if software is used for verbatim minutes. Ms. Bourquin was not sure about this. 9 2. Ad Hoc and Liaison Updates 10 Baylands Tide Gate – Vice Chair Greenfield said they met with Valley Water last week to 11 review the presentation and talk about some of the details and suggestions for how to focus 12 the discussion this evening. 13 CIP Review – Commissioner Moss said he had nothing to report, and it will be addressed 14 later in the year. 15 Dog Park and Restroom CY21 – Chair Cribbs said they are in the process of scheduling a 16 meeting with the dogs in the community and also getting information from Stanford. Mr. 17 Anderson said there are competing priorities with other projects, such as skatepark and 18 wildfire and other things. It is not being fast-tracked. The fast-tracked things are other 19 restrooms that are happening sooner and don’t need further action, including Ramos, Roth, 20 and Rinconada. All of the community meetings for those have been done. 21 Foothills Nature Preserve – Vice Chair Greenfield said the Ad Hoc is working with staff 22 to schedule a meeting with the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee, and it looks 23 like they will talk about the concern of the fourth week of September. Commissioner Moss 24 said the fact that the number of visitors is remaining at a manageable level means there is 25 less of a crisis and more controlled discussions. That will continue until November or 26 December when they will look back over the year. They had thought they would have to 27 get back to the Commission at the end of summer, but it doesn’t seem like that high a 28 priority right now. 29 Fund Development CY21 – Chair Cribbs said they will be meeting with the Ad Hoc to 30 outline what was in the minutes and present it to the Commission in a couple months, a 31 marketing plan talking about how to give money to the City and ways to promote the 32 opportunities to give money to support parks and community programs. Commissioner 33 Moss asked if it included some ads. Chair Cribbs said yes, and it was a good discussion 34 last month and they will put that into one page and have a meeting and bring it to the rest 35 of the Commission. 36 DRAFT Draft Minutes 10 New Recreation Opportunities – Chair Cribbs said they are waiting for some feedback 1 from different people they have reached out to, so nothing definitive to report. They got 2 some information from Mr. Anderson about the electrical wires above the 10.5 acres, but 3 they have not really done anything with that yet. Commissioner Moss asked if the 4 skateboard park will go under New Recreation Opportunities. Chair Cribbs said for now 5 it is there. If it becomes a bigger project and needs its own Ad Hoc, they will create one to 6 take care of that. 7 Racquet Court Policy – Commissioner Reckdahl said Commissioner Brown and they had 8 a meeting with staff talking about pickleball and tennis and exchanged emails about 9 Universal Tennis. Right now USTA is the only people who can reserve courts and they 10 wondered if they could open that up. They will have discussions going forward about that. 11 Sidewalk Vendor Policy – Commissioner Moss said they met for many hours and have 12 gone through all of the initial input from the attorneys, and it is now back with them. They 13 will have more to report later in the month. 14 Community Gardens – Commissioner Brown said she met with Ms. Bourquin to discuss 15 this. There was an isolated incident with trapping at one of the gardens. She was wondering 16 if this was something to handle on a Commission level or something that staff could handle 17 in updating the guidelines to clarify the baiting and trapping policy. Commissioner Moss 18 said in the past with such issues, getting best practices from experts at other gardens was 19 valuable, and it builds community as well. The last issue was about PVC pipe instead of 20 something else. People had lots of ideas, so he encouraged getting other gardeners’ input. 21 Ms. Bourquin said when they got approval for them a couple years ago, they didn’t want 22 to have to keep coming back for approval, so now the City Manager just reviews them and 23 gives approval, but they definitely would incorporate all of the gardeners’ input as well, 24 once they do another draft of the rat control policy, because they want to prohibit any 25 baiting. 26 Field Users – Vice Chair Greenfield said there are no updates beyond the report and the 27 update on turf replacement. Chair Cribbs asked if more soccer fields are needed. Vice 28 Chair Greenfield said this is not really the issue. Commissioner Moss commented on 29 practices from 4:15 to 10:15 p.m. He said he doesn’t know of fields where you can play 30 up until 10:15 p.m., certainly not Cubberley. Vice Chair Greenfield said it is the fields 31 with lights – Stanford Soccer Complex, Mayfield and El Camino Park. 32 Golf – Commissioner LaMere said he met with Lam, and the course is busy and at a 33 stronger pace than last year. The revenue will be more than projected. They had a question 34 about a youth fee a couple months ago. Lam followed up on that. A junior fee is offered, 35 at $5 during after school hours, during the week. The catch is that they have to register 36 with the National Youth On-Course program. If they do that, they can then get on the 37 course after school on weekdays for $5. Also, there are ongoing discussions with First Tee 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 11 regarding their proposal that they had brought to the Commission. Chair Cribbs asked how 1 to get information regarding the $5 course fee for youth. Mr. Do replied that there is a 2 National Youth course program that supports golf and opportunities for youth, defined as 3 age 18 and under. It is a non-profit that underwrites the program and there are about 1,500 4 courses throughout the country that participate. Upon registration with the national 5 program and registering at a participating course, youth depending on time and date 6 restrictions, youth can get on the course for a $5 fee. The national program subsidizes 7 another portion of the green fee as well. 8 Hawthornes Area – Vice Chair Greenfield appreciated Mr. Anderson attending the 9 meeting and giving the update. He was not able to attend this meeting. 10 PAUSD/City – Commissioner Reckdahl said the joint school board meeting was held, but 11 there was nothing that pertained to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Commissioner 12 Moss asked if Cubberley was on the agenda. Commissioner Reckdahl said there is a 13 separate Cubberley group that meets. Council Member Kou said she is on the Ad Hoc 14 committee along with Mayor DuBois and Councilmember Cormack. They took a break 15 during the summer break. After a little bit of time to adjust, they will be meeting again. 16 Sustainability – Commissioner Brown attended the Ad Hoc meeting and said staff get a 17 good job of organizing so that high school students could attend and were prioritized to 18 speak. She thought it was a well-run public comment session. The next meeting is focused 19 on residential building electrification, on 9/9/21 at 9:00 a.m. There is also a great post on 20 the City’s media page for those who are interested. 21 Urban Forestry – Vice Chair Greenfield said the Policy and Services Committee of City 22 Council had Urban Forestry issues. The Tree Protection Ordinance was on the agenda this 23 month. Part of the recommendation was to move forward with the work that Parks and 24 Recreation Commission started some time ago with formalizing a relationship between 25 Urban Forestry Department and Parks and Recreation Commission, for PRC to serve as a 26 community forum for urban forestry issues and advice on policy, essentially. It will go to 27 City Council for consideration probably in mid-October. The PRC Urban Forestry 28 Liaisons – Commissioner Reckdahl and Vice Chair Greenfield – will be meeting with staff 29 and the acting Urban Forester to review what has been discussed and sync up with the 30 directors of Public Works and Community Services as well. This would become part of 31 the staff report recommendation to City Council. 32 NVCAP – Commissioner Reckdahl said they are coming back to Council later in 33 September. 34 Youth Council – Chair Cribbs said they have not met yet, but she looks forward to their 35 next meeting. 36 DRAFT Draft Minutes 12 3. Park Improvement Ordinance for the Baylands Tide Gate Structure Repair 1 Project 2 Mr. Anderson introduced Valley Water staff, Rechelle Blank, Robert Yamane, Sunshine 3 Julian and Alex Hunt. 4 Rechelle Blank, Deputy Operating Officer, Water Sheds Design and Construction 5 Division, Valley Water, addressed the Commission to discuss the PIO for the Tide Gate 6 Replacement Project and the trail work they had planned to complete in the fall. She 7 provided a summary of the decision to cancel the trail work. Valley Water had initially 8 planned to prepare the trail surface to improve the haul and truck route for the contractor’s 9 use in constructing the replacement tide gate structure. In the timing to acquire all the 10 necessary regulatory requirements they decided they were taking longer than they 11 expected. After their last update to the Parks and Recreation Commission on June 2nd, they 12 received notification from the Regional Water Quality Control Board about permitting 13 requirements. The requirements of them to implement the trail work were going to be more 14 onerous, so it became clear that there were some disagreements in the trail work 15 requirements that they would need to take time to talk and work through with the Regional 16 Water Quality Control Board. It would likely mean a delay in the receiving of permits and 17 then being able to actually initiate the trail work. 18 Ms. Blank said they became concerned that all of the trail work would not be able to be 19 completed in one season, so they had planned to do this to improve the conditions for the 20 contractor for the four years of the construction project and because they would not be able 21 to implement all the trail improvements that were needed, and those improvements would 22 still be costly, they weren’t going to benefit the contractor. So, they readjusted and looked 23 at what they would need to do and went ahead and cancelled the trail work. The current 24 trail access road is used for maintenance and they were trying to prepare it for inclement 25 weather in the rainy season. They are instead going to add additional specification 26 requirements to the contractor for the periods when he is actually performing the 27 construction work over the four years. They will not be adding the geotextile fabric or the 28 aggregate base to the trail that was planned for this fall. She said she recalled at the last 29 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting there were quite a few concerns raised about 30 the aggregate material and its impact on trail users and that it would be out there for 31 approximately five years. With that, and taking all this into consideration, they are going 32 to cancel that work. 33 Robert Yamane recapped some of the slides from their previous presentation in June. He 34 reiterated that the existing structure was built in 1957, is about 64 years old, at the end of 35 its expected service life and is very important because it controls the water surface 36 elevations for the three creeks that feed into it for the 100-year storm flood capacity. It 37 also protects against coastal flooding. The City of Palo Alto operates a motorized sluice 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 13 gate on one of the bays to enhance water quality in the Palo Alto Flood Basin. They will 1 be providing a replacement structure to provide the existing or better level of service for 2 those three creeks to protect against coastal flooding, to also practically address future sea 3 level rise, as well as limit impacts to existing habitat within the Palo Alto Flood Basin. 4 Projects are coordinated to limit impacts to the public, and this was something they have 5 been discussing, regarding the trails. He said the existing tide gate structure is located 6 along the Adobe Creek Loop Trail, so implementing the project is for the benefit of 7 maintaining the trail. He shared photos of the existing structure, the sluice gate, illustrating 8 the end-of-life condition of the structure. 9 Mr. Yamane explained that the pre-construction trail improvement work has been removed 10 from the project scope. Their original intent was to smoothen, strengthen and provide an 11 all-weather trail surface for trucks during the four years of construction seasons, but the 12 trail improvement work was not going to fully eliminate the risk of possible trail surface 13 damage or levee damage. Ultimately, permitting requirements led them to reassess the 14 work for several reasons. After the 6/22/2021 PRC meeting, regulatory agencies indicated 15 other onerous requirements that would complicate and delay the start of the trail work. 16 With this, the Valley Water O&M staff would be able to complete the entire stretch of trail 17 work, which would reduce the benefit of doing the work for the contractor. They 18 reassessed the need for the trail and surface improvement work. By not installing the trail 19 improvement work, they will eliminate three or more months of trail closures that were 20 originally planned for this year. 21 There was concern that replacing the dirt with a very hard compacted gravel may not be 22 liked by all trail users. Mr. Yamane said there are some benefits, but they recognize there 23 is an increased risk that the levees may require repairs. However, this work would remain 24 during the planned construction seasons over the four years. The contractor will be 25 performing in-kind repairs to the levee surface during the normal construction work 26 seasons, and the contractor will lighten their truck loads to find optimum balance between 27 the number of truck trips to reduce damaging the levee surface. The levees have been used 28 in the past for major construction activities, such as to construct the existing tide gate 29 structure. There will be project specification provisions limiting truck usage at the levees 30 after a significant rain event, and they will also require the contractor to repair the trail 31 surface at the end of each work season to the satisfaction of Valley Water and the City of 32 Palo Alto prior to opening to trail users between construction seasons. At the completion 33 of the project, the contractor will be required to provide a final trail surface that meets or 34 exceeds the pre-construction conditions. 35 Mr. Yamane shared a schedule of the proposed trail closures and the different trail 36 segments and dates, which is an attachment in the PIO . There are two trail segments where 37 there would be shared traffic between construction and trail users. First, a small section on 38 City of Mountain View right-of-way. This is the cross traffic at the intersection of the 39 DRAFT Draft Minutes 14 detour. There will be a flagger there. Second, there is about a 1,300 to 1,400-foot-wide 1 trail segment where construction traffic will be on the left hand side, and the trail user 2 portion will be partly on the flat portion of the trail and partly on the righthand shoulder. 3 He said they want to get the City’s input on this because the shoulder has some undulations 4 and is not as smooth, although there is a lot of space for the shared traffic. There would 5 not be any construction traffic on Sundays, and during the five-month seasons, it will be 6 Monday through Saturday. The project will allow for continued use of the Adobe Creek 7 Loop Trail. The new tide gate structure will be a little bit wider and will have an 8 aesthetically pleasing railing, new educational signage and it will replace the weathered, 9 aged existing sluice gate system with a new motor-driven sluice gate and SCADA that will 10 provide better control over water elevations and water quality within the Basin. They will 11 work closely with the City for public outreach, such as pre-construction public meetings, 12 signage, their website, Nextdoor, and postcard mailers. 13 Alex Hunt, Environmental Planner, went over some of the environmental impacts stating 14 they appreciate the very sensitive environment that the project occurs in. with a lot of salt 15 marsh, the Bay, and many sensitive species that occur in the area. The focus of the 16 presentation is on their work as it pertains to the Adobe Creek Loop Trail, which is part of 17 the greater Bay Trail. He said they sought to minimize environmental impacts. They have 18 a short work window because they need to avoid impacts to nesting birds, specifically the 19 California Ridgeway’s rail. They looked at various alternatives on the project site. All of 20 them had comparable wetland impacts, but the one selected avoided any erosional impacts 21 on Hook’s Island or the Palo Alto Sailing Station boat dock. They incorporated a host of 22 best management practices into the project description to further avoid impacts. As part of 23 CEQA compliance, they have developed a suite of mitigation measures, such as pre-24 constructure surveys, as-needed monitoring for protected species, installing 25 environmentally-sensitive area fencing, providing awareness training to contractors, doing 26 fish exclusion and relocation prior to dewatering, and compensating for the relatively small 27 wetland impacts by purchasing credits at a mitigation bank. They completed the CEQA 28 review earlier this year and are in the process of obtaining all of the environmental permits 29 Chair Cribbs thanked them for the presentation. She asked Mr. Anderson for any 30 comments. Mr. Anderson thanked the Valley Water staff for being receptive to working 31 with the Ad Hoc, who he thought did a wonderful job of digging in to make sure the 32 reasons for the change were articulated. They were sensitive to the fact that they had just 33 come to the Commission asking for approval for the Park Improvement Ordinance, got the 34 approval, and then changed the terms. He thought they did a good job explaining why this 35 happened and reacting to the concerns from the Ad Hoc and the Commission. He thought 36 they had a good proposal. From a City perspective, he emphasized how important the 37 project is to the community and to the Baylands Preserve. As a former manager of the 38 Preserve and caretaker of the sluice gate, he shared that it is unmanageable at this point. 39 The water cannot be controlled, which means that 622 acres of wetland in the flood basin 40 DRAFT Draft Minutes 15 that are not being properly managed. They also run the risk of mosquito vector issues, an 1 increasing problem for the last five years in which the tide gate structure has been 2 progressively failing. Any further delays may exacerbate all of these issues, including the 3 flood protection, mosquito abatement and habitat enhancement abilities. He is hopeful the 4 project can move along with as much support as possible. 5 Chair Cribbs first invited any comments from the public. There were none. 6 Commissioner Reckdahl said one of the things the Ad Hoc talked about was that Valley 7 Water had planned to do this prep work to prevent damage to the levee, and now are not 8 doing it. Their question was what risks are they taking and what do we lose by not doing 9 this prep work? Mr. Yamane explained that, since not having the all-weather surface, they 10 will have to incorporate a waiting period after a rain to make sure the surface can dry out, 11 so potentially perhaps a three-day period after a significant rain event, so there is a little 12 more involved in incorporating the provision into the schedule. They believe there is still 13 time to do that within the tight work windows, but that will be part of their milestones and 14 requirements in the project. 15 Commissioner Reckdahl asked, if they do see any damage along the way, with they fix it 16 as it comes? Mr. Yamane said this will be a very-closely watched item, and at the first sign 17 of damage they will assess and do the repair. They anticipate there will be some that will 18 need to be done over the four years. They will repair it as they goes within the season, but 19 it will be quick repairs, repairing earth with earth. He said smoothing it out can be done 20 very quickly. Commissioner Reckdahl asked Mr. Hunt, if not doing any prep work will 21 cause any environmental damage to the system. Mr. Hunt said he does not think so. In 22 fact, it might lessen the environmental impact since it will shorten the duration of work in 23 a particularly sensitive environment. He said the Water Board was concerned with creating 24 more impervious surfaces and the runoff associate with that. He thought the risk was not 25 in the levee falling apart and trucks falling in, but it is actually an environmental benefit. 26 Commissioner Reckdahl asked for clarification on what will be done at the end of 27 construction to guarantee that the trail is back to being what it is today. Mr. Yamen said 28 they will do a pre-construction survey with City staff as well, to make sure there is good 29 documentation of the condition of the entire levee trail stretch and it will have to be 30 restored to the prior smoothness. The condition of the surface will have to meet or exceed 31 the pre-construction conditions. This will be a requirement in the project specifications in 32 the contract. 33 Mr. Anderson added he has worked on previous projects with Valley Water in the 34 Baylands, and there was concern about damage to the paved asphalt trail on the San 35 Francisquito Creek levee as well as the dirt levee by the mouth of the creek. When the 36 project was complete, he had pointed out a few areas where he thought the impacts had 37 changed. The Valley Water staff had documented every single crack there with photos and 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 16 measurements, rulers. He was impressed with their preparation and meticulous attention 1 to detail in terms of the existing conditions. He intends to do the same on behalf of the 2 City as well and will be there with the Valley Water team to make sure the City’s interests 3 are looked after in terms of getting an end product they are happy with. 4 Vice Chair Greenfield added that the timing was unfortunate that it had gone to the Parks 5 and Recreation Commission, a PIO was recommended, and then this quick change right 6 afterwards, so it was appropriate to review it again and understand. He was appreciative 7 of the changes and enhancements to the planned way forward, calling for specific steps 8 and articulating the plan and guidelines a little more clearly, which gives him more 9 comfort. He has appreciated their responses to their questions. He asked when the signage 10 would be up, as the public outreach is very important to communicate to the broader 11 community what is coming. He said, ideally, it should be communicated when they still 12 have an opportunity to ask questions before plans are finalized. Mr. Yamane said they 13 dropped a little of the urgency because of not having the planned work this winter, but 14 they will get back on it, and he will relay the information to Mr. Anderson who can give 15 an update to the Commission. Vice Chair Greenfield said he especially like the idea of 16 having signs that can be adjusted over time, more of a current status update to be included 17 with the signs. He understood that some parts of the sign will be permanent and some parts 18 will be updated as the project goes through. Mr. Yamane confirmed that that was the idea. 19 There would be a more permanent metal sign and then they are talking about using 11x17 20 smaller laminated signs to post in more locations and could be updated depending on the 21 season. 22 Vice Chair Greenfield highlighted that over the course of years that this project has been 23 discussed, the overall months of trail closure has been decreased. The overall impact to 24 the community who really enjoys using this trail has not been lost on the Valley Water 25 staff, and has improved. He appreciates that the concern has been heard and responded to. 26 He said he said for some segments of the project, some of the either north or south 27 entrances towards the tide gate won’t be used so heavily, so he is hopeful that any 28 opportunity to open even the partial trail a few days here and a few days there could be 29 worked out. He wondered if the trail was closed due to rain, closed to trucks for that three-30 day period, if it was possible to open up the trail to the community for access during those 31 times. Mr. Yamane said they want to be careful not to overcommit, and it’s hard to plan 32 that into the construction schedule with the contractor, but they are open to looking into 33 any creative solution. Vice Chair Greenfield said he would be interested in an approach to 34 revisit this periodically to see if there is some increased access that could be provided 35 pragmatically when the project is underway, something to review at least annually if not 36 quarterly or semiannually. He said the bottom line is that the project is critical and the 37 work must get done. He appreciates that Valley Water has taken such an extensive and 38 detailed role in working with the community on how to get it done. 39 DRAFT Draft Minutes 17 Commissioner Moss commented that he hopes they have a lot more rain than in the past 1 two years and that it won’t impact the schedule when it happens. He assumed they have a 2 number of days of rain delay, but there is no way to anticipate exactly how many. 3 Regarding the weight of the trucks and the number of them, two things come to his mind. 4 One, he asked if they are talking about double the number of truck loads and half the 5 weight, but he is not so worried about that. He would rather protect the levee and put aside 6 the extra pollution. Mr. Yamane said they want to balance the schedule but also have a 7 proactive approach to addressing the first sign of damage and to have the contractor go 8 back. They are looking into putting in their specs having a QC manager that requires them 9 to revisit the air quality control submittal plan and how they will address any levee damage. 10 They will take it one step at a time, starting with the fully loaded haul truck, and if there 11 are no signs of distress then that will be okay. At the first signs of damage they will reassess 12 and they will be contractually required to address that and adjust. They don’t want to say 13 they can only use half a truck full and then have it not be constructable within the season 14 either, as they are on tight windows. Commissioner Moss asked if the loaded trucks would 15 cause additional compaction to the levee and lower its elevation. Mr. Yamane said it 16 should be just topical rutting on the levee surface, which can be easily repaired. 17 Commissioner Moss asked if they would have to spray it down to keep the dust down. Mr. 18 Yamane said the program will have all the best management practices for construction, for 19 dust control, water runoff pollution, et cetera. Commissioner Moss said his preference is 20 that they not use postal mailers, but emails are fine and websites. 21 Commissioner Brown commented on the tradeoffs, and said it is easy to look at this as a 22 plan B from a Plan A, but there are certainly some benefits that have been expressed. It 23 does require more monitoring by the contractor and by City staff. She is sympathetic to 24 staff’s role. She asked if staff’s monitoring of the impacts is something that the staff can 25 handle and they are willing and able to take on. Mr. Anderson said the bulk of the staff 26 involvement will be in the pre-construction examination. That’s where they want to 27 carefully monitor and document the existing conditions. During the project it will largely 28 be Valley Water and their contractors monitoring, less the Rangers or him going out there. 29 Once the construction season is over they would again go in and work closely, talking it 30 through and looking at it. He said he thinks there will be a considerable amount of time 31 with this, but he is confident they can manage that portion. 32 Commission LaMere asked how often the trucks will be running on the levee during a 33 typical day, with people out there walking. Mr. Yamane said it would be during the time 34 when they are bringing in new import fill, new levee material, or excavating and taking 35 out old levee material. There will be multiple trucks during those times. The trail segment 36 that is about 1,300 or 1,400 feet wide, where there will be shared traffic, is a pretty wide 37 portion of the trail. They are looking at having some kind of barrier, perhaps a temporary 38 K-rail. It depends on whether the shoulder is acceptable for trail users. Commission 39 DRAFT Draft Minutes 18 LaMere asked if potentially there could be an entire day of truck traffic. Mr. Yamane said 1 this is likely. 2 Commission LaMere said they talked about the 100-year flood capacity. He asked how 3 that is calculated and if there have been any updates as the climate changes. Mr. Yamane 4 said Adobe, Matadero and Barron Creeks have a 100-year probability, the statistics on 5 those storm events. When such a storm occurs, it requires the water level in the basin to 6 be at a certain level, so it provides that capacity to take that storm event for the duration. 7 The hydraulic team has run the numbers, and one of the issues is that the way that the tide 8 gates work is when the tide is low, when the water in the basin is higher than the water in 9 the Bay, it pushes the gates open and lets the water out. So, as sea level rises and the low 10 tide becomes higher, that becomes less efficient and the gates are open for a shorter amount 11 of time. This was one of the factors in the design, to provide a larger opening. This was 12 part of the calculation of the hydraulic modeling. 13 Chair Cribbs asked if there were changes in the budget because of changes in the plan. Mr. 14 Yamane said this is an unknown value. They are taking the same budget that they were 15 planning for the trail improvement work and holding it for trail repairs, to pay on an as-16 needed basis during construction, so it is basically a wash. Chair Cribbs asked Mr. 17 Anderson what he anticipates in terms of staff time, if anything, and if more staff would 18 have to be pulled in to monitor. Mr. Anderson said he thinks they were going to do the 19 inspections anyway, even with the trail hardening that was proposed. He could still 20 imagine there being issues, and they would have to do the same sort of inspections. So the 21 same documentation pre-construction, the same end-of-construction season analysis to 22 ensure that it’s held up, and where it wasn’t they make it safe. It might be a little more 23 robust, but he didn’t think it will be overly onerous compared to what it would have been 24 had there been the trail improvements. 25 Council Member Kou recommended in regard to communications to the community that 26 the notice also be sent to the City Manager’s Office so they can send it out through their 27 social media sites, as well as the City Manager’s blog. 28 Commissioner Reckdahl said the trucks are going to be driving and may be loaded and 29 may make deep ruts. He asked how they would go about fixing them. Mr. Yamane said 30 new fill would go on top, generally, and a motor grader would go over it which smooths 31 and compacts at the same time. He said it is a fairly quick process. Commissioner Reckdahl 32 asked if there is anything they can do when they’re all done, to make the surface more 33 bike-friendly, more compact and easier for bikes with thinner tires. Could they use finer 34 gravel when filling in the ruts, or compact it better? Mr. Yamane said he would have to 35 look into this. Commissioner Reckdahl said the surface near Moffett is a much better bike 36 surface, on the levee. He wondered if there are small things they can do when finishing 37 DRAFT Draft Minutes 19 the project, such as using finer gravel and packing it tighter, it would be wonderful because 1 they want this to be a very bike-friendly route. 2 MOTION 3 Motion to recommend that Council adopt and approve a Park Improvement Ordinance 4 authoring Santa Clara Valley Water District Palo Alto Flood Basin Tide Gate Structure 5 Replacement Project was moved by Commissioner Reckdahl and seconded by 6 Commissioner Brown. The motion passed, 6-0, by roll call vote. 7 4. Approval of Memo to Council on NVCAP regarding park land 8 Chair Cribbs referred to the memo discussed at the last meeting regarding concerns about 9 the Ventura Park project and the fact that there is not a lot of parkland created in the plans 10 being looked at. 11 Chair Cribbs invited comments from the public. 12 Rebecca Sanders thanked the Commissioners for taking up this topic. She said South 13 Ventura has the Ventura Community Center, central Ventura has Boulware Park, and 14 North Ventura has no parks. Even with the Boulware Park expansion they will be 15 inadequately served in parkland. Ventura school really isn’t a bona fide park, per se, 16 because it is shared with a lot of other organizations. She said there is no problem with 17 sharing the park, but they just need more of it. She said they crave parity with other 18 neighborhoods, and they don’t seem to be served traditionally with the amenities that other 19 communities currently enjoy in Palo Alto, which makes them angry and frustrated. She is 20 glad the Commission understands what they are going through, especially with the 21 proposed development with North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan, with apartment 22 buildings with 50 units starting to dot the proposed landscape of North Ventura. She asked 23 where these people will play, and where these families will go. Will they have to get in 24 their car and drive someplace to run and throw a ball for their dogs, have a picnic, et cetera? 25 She said the Commission is on the right track but would like them to add some statistics 26 to the memo. 27 Angela Dee [phonetic] voiced strong support for Commissioner Reckdahl’s memo. She 28 has been told that Palo Alto’s good schools and wealthy residents have made land here so 29 valuable that it’s not financially feasible for the City to meet its own requirements of four 30 acres per 1,000 people. Residents of Mountain View and San Francisco have the luxury of 31 more park space per person than residents of Palo Alto. Weirdly and improbably, she said 32 it sounds as if Palo Alto is too wealthy to have ample park space. She believes Palo Alto 33 is perfectly capable of finding the wherewithal to pay for park space. In the coming years, 34 many families will move into dense housing developments in South Palo Alto. She asked, 35 if current residents should worry about whether these families will have space to relax and 36 DRAFT Draft Minutes 20 play in and if those who have already enough outdoor space in their own backyards need 1 to worry about those who do not. She said she is sure the Commissioners would answer 2 yes. 3 Jonathan Brown, Chair Ventura Parks Committee, said he very much supports the memo 4 and had similar thoughts when listening to a recent hearing about the North Ventura 5 Coordinated Area Plan. He said it is a great idea to add affordable housing, and there may 6 be some places in Ventura along El Camino or perhaps in the coordinated area plan area 7 to add housing, but they are already underserved in terms of parkland and they need to add 8 more, especially if adding more people. He said park space is a critical part of peoples’ 9 everyday lives, and if you go to Boulware Park you will see a mixture of all sorts of people 10 – people who live here, people who work there and live elsewhere. You may see un-housed 11 individuals using the park. There is a great demand for parks and more are needed. He 12 fully supports the memo and even making an even stronger statement. He supports the 13 reference to the Committee, the citizens like Angela who have been on the citizen group 14 working on the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan, and the work that they have done 15 has been good. He hopes it gets more attention and that the City Council comes up with a 16 good plan for the community. 17 Commissioner Reckdahl said some of this comes out of the frustration when he was in the 18 North Ventura meetings. The Area Plan staff was not convinced that four acres per 19 thousand was a real requirement, so the first paragraph talks about the fact that the Council 20 twice in the past four years has reaffirmed that four acres per thousand is a goal for the 21 city. They don’t meet it right now, but it is a goal that they should be working towards. 22 That’s why the first paragraph has discussion of both the Parks Master Plan and also the 23 Comprehensive Plan endorsing the four acres per thousand. 24 The next paragraph talks about the fact that the North Ventura Area Plan’s three designs 25 not only don’t meet it, but don’t come anywhere close to meeting it. If they were coming 26 in at three acres per thousand they might not need the memo, but they are down below 27 one-and-a-half per thousand. Also, some of their definitions for parks are rather loose, 28 such as planting strips, which are very nice features, but are not parks. They really need to 29 do have usable parks, not just there for ornament. People want to be able to have picnics, 30 to be able to throw a ball with their kids. 31 Finally, “people can go elsewhere for parks.” One of the explicit goals in the Parks Master 32 Plan is that they want parks to be distributed equitably around Palo Alto. They don’t want 33 a cluster of parks in some areas and no parks in others. They want parks near where people 34 live so they don’t have to get in their car or walk two miles to get to a park. The North 35 Ventura Area plan designs need to be changed to include more park space. He is interested 36 to see what the Commission’s thoughts are about things to add, things to change in the 37 memo. 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 21 Chair Cribbs thanked him for putting the memo together. She said as a young mother many 1 years ago she lived in the Ventura neighborhood on Park Boulevard, and it was very hard 2 to find a park she could go to with a stroller and two small children, and she doesn’t know 3 that things have changed much. 4 Commissioner Moss said one of the speakers mentioned a lack of statistics. He fully agrees 5 with the letter and it is just the tip of the iceberg, and they need to go ahead with it. He 6 said the City Council needs to know that this is just the beginning. In last Friday’s Palo 7 Alto Weekly there is a huge article about the census data for 2020. He was shocked to find 8 out that in the past ten years, the City has grown by 4,000 people, from 64,000 to 68,000, 9 and 700 more households. The only land added is the AT&T property, which he is very 10 happy about, but at the same time they should be counting some of the community gardens 11 that have been added. He said, also, the pickleball courts don’t add more square acreage, 12 but they have gotten extensively more usage out of the acreage that they have. They might 13 want to reconfigure how the four acres per thousand people is calculated and such things 14 as ornamental planting versus usable space for throwing a ball around. Several dog parks 15 have been added in cubby holes in parks that until now have been grossly underutilized. 16 Somehow they have to incorporate the increased usage in the configuration, not just the 17 number of acres. He also noted that Los Altos Hills and Stanford have very little, if any, 18 parks and it is so important that parkland be dedicated. 19 Commission LaMere said the letter is great and he is in full support and also appreciates 20 the brevity of it, that it is succinct and to the point. He feels it is important to not get bogged 21 down in too much detail. He said perhaps one or two more stats could be added, or 22 demographics, but he is in full support. 23 Vice Chair Greenfield said he is fully supportive of the letter and said it disconcerting to 24 hear that the Area Plan staff wasn’t clear on the concept or necessity of the four acres per 25 thousand residents. He feels it is very important for the Parks and Recreation Commission 26 to emphasize this and do their best to make this clear. He thinks the comments that people 27 can go elsewhere for parks is a real concern and is an equity issue. For example, the South 28 Palo Alto tree initiative where the City is working to improve tree canopy coverage in 29 South Palo Alto to decrease the disparity between North and South Palo Alto. There are 30 important studies showing direct correlation between tree canopy coverage, or shade, in 31 neighborhoods, and the heat exposure and air quality and ultimately the employment 32 associated with economic benefits to neighborhoods, so he thinks this is very important 33 and adding parkland will serve a similar directly-related benefit to the general physical 34 health and well-being of the community 35 MOTION 36 Adoption of the letter to the City Council was moved by Commissioner Moss and 37 seconded by Vice Chair Greenfield. The motion passed 5-0, by roll call vote. 38 DRAFT Draft Minutes 22 Chair Cribbs said she will talk with Mr. Anderson about how to send the letter to the 1 Council. 2 TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR THE SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 MEETING 3 Mr. Anderson said they are looking at sidewalk vendor regulations. The Ad Hoc has been 4 doing good work, is close and he believes it will be ready. The skate park is something he 5 would like to bring in September, pending the Ad Hoc’s thinking and perhaps a community 6 meeting before. There will be an informational report from Valley Water on a purified 7 water project at the Los Altos Sewage Treatment Plant site, LATP. They were tentative 8 for that, so he will confirm. If the Chair is supportive of that. The Ad Hoc update on 9 funding is a possibility. Also, having the First Tee proposal coming to the PRC for an 10 action item to recommend something to Council. 11 Chair Cribbs said she would appreciate it if the skate park could be moved along, so 12 whatever he needs from her to make that happen would be great. She is excited about First 13 Tee appearing. She invited additions or comments from the Commission. Commissioner 14 Moss requested to talk about future agendas. He proposed adding at some point discussion 15 of purple pipe update, a Cal Fire update, an anabolic digestor, and he also would like to 16 know when recruiting starts for commissions. 17 VII. COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 18 Chair Cribbs said there is an amazing promotion called, We, the 15, and you can find it 19 on a website, produced and supported by the International Paralympic Committee, who 20 is responsible for putting on the Paralympic Games and speaks to the fact that 15 percent 21 of the world have disabilities. She thinks it will be an excellent opportunity for people to 22 really look at what the Paralympic Games does and what all can do in the area of 23 disability. She is excited about it and wanted to share. She would like to send the url out 24 to others in the city. She looked up the words having to do with Para Olympians, they are 25 words like courage, determination, inspiration and equality, all good words for the Parks 26 and Recreation Commission to think about as well. She wished all a good rest of August 27 and beginning of September. 28 Council Member Kou wished Ms. Bourquin all the best in her retirement and wished her 29 the best in retirement. Ms. Bourquin expressed her appreciation. 30 VIII. ADJOURNMENT 31 Meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. 32 TO: PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION FROM: LAM DO SUPERINTENDENT OPEN SPACE, PARKS, AND GOLF DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY SERVICES DATE: SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 SUBJECT: FIRST TEE OF SILICON VALLEY PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends the Parks and Recreation Commission recommend that City Council direct staff to develop a Letter of Intent or Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the First Tee of Silicon Valley towards establishing a public-private partnership for youth development and infrastructure improvements at the Baylands Golf Links. BACKGROUND The First Tee is a national non-profit 501(c) program providing youth with experiences to build character through teaching the game of golf to learn life skills in the areas of inner strength, self-confidence, and resiliency. The curriculum consists of nine core values applicable to golf and youth development. The core values are honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgment. Since 2009, the City has collaborated with a regional First Tee chapter, the First Tee of Silicon Valley (FTSV) and its prior operations as the First Tee of San Jose. FTSV aims to develop youth through the game of golf and educational programs to build character, instill life- enhancing values, and promote healthy choices. Annually, FTSV teaches over 1,100 youth at a few golf courses in the region and has an outreach program reaching 14,000 youth in schools and local communities. Youth participants range between 2nd grade through 12th grade. Participants of all backgrounds are taught and financial assistance is offered to ensure opportunities for all youth. At present, FTSV teaches at the Rancho del Pueblo Golf Course in east San Jose, Gavilan College Golf Course in Gilroy, and the Baylands Golf Links in Palo Alto. FTSV’s region reaches south towards Hollister in San Benito County and north up to Highway 92 in San Mateo County. The region covers all of Santa Clara County, including Palo Alto. It also includes East Palo Alto in San Mateo County. At the Baylands Golf Links, participants enroll in eight-week lessons during each of the four annual seasons. The program consists of a life skills curriculum with driving range, putting, chipping, and on course practice. As a program expansion, FTSV introduced a long-term public-private partnership (PPP) to the Parks and Recreation Commission (Commission) at the October 27, 2020 meeting (agenda). The PPP proposal between FTSV and the City of Palo Alto is for youth development facilitated by long-term usage access and site infrastructure improvements to practice and teaching facilities at the Baylands Golf Links. Partnership Proposal Description FTSV is proposing a 50-year facility use partnership with the City for access and use of the Baylands Golf Links to teach youth development. FTSV seeks facility use encompassing access to the youth practice area, short game practice Area, driving range, practice putting green, practice chipping green, and on-course tee times. Facility access would be for eight weeks in each of the four annual seasons for a total of 32 weeks annually. During the week, Tuesday through Friday facility use is for a two-hour period in the afternoon after school and hours vary depending on seasonal daylight hours. On weekends, facility use would be on Saturdays for a full day of programing starting in the morning and into the late afternoon. An outline of facility use is reflected in Attachment A. The location of Baylands Golf Links is ideal for the regional population which FTSV seeks to serve. However, the practice facilities are not adequate for program expansion so FTSV is proposing to invest $4.2M+ in facility infrastructure improvements to allow for safely using underutilized practice areas at the golf course. The improvements would raise the height of the driving range nets and poles for ball retention to allow for use of the youth practice area and short game practice area, which are adjacent to the left and right side of the driving range. Additional ball retention nets would be installed at the youth practice area to prevent balls from entering the adjacent trail and Embarcadero Road. Lastly, there would be some modification of the turf and contours of the youth practice area for the teaching needs of FTSV. A visual depiction of the practice areas is in Figure A contained in Attachment A. FTSV is proposing to fundraise the $4.2M+ cost for facility infrastructure improvements and seeks a Letter of Intent (LOI) or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to substantiate with potential donors the purpose of fundraising. Although FTSV is not seeking a financial contribution from the City towards the $4.2M+ infrastructure improvement cost, the FTSV is asking for an annual $36,000 grant from the City to FTSV to underwrite program expenses including financial assistance for low-income participants. Additionally, FTSV seeks discounted Palo Alto resident golf rates to be extended to family members of FTSV participants and East Palo Alto residents. As the youth practice area and short game area are part of the golf course complex, the City would continue to be responsible for year-round maintenance. FTSV does have a larger vision for further investments in additional facility improvements including covered range stalls, relocation of the cart wash area and range ball machines, constructing a new practice putting green, and constructing a learning center. The learning center would consist of high-performance range stalls with technological teaching tools, a meeting space, bathrooms, offices, and storage. Based upon the outcome of the LOI, MOU, or implementation of a PPP, FTSV may seek to pursue the larger vision which would require review by the Commission and potentially a new LOI or MOU. DISCUSSION Presently, the Community Services Department collaborates with FTSV by offering facility use seasonally during weekdays after school hours for a nominal fee. The collaboration allows for both parties to deliver youth services to the community. The PPP proposal would establish a 50-year long-term partnership with infrastructure improvements benefiting both parties. With additional access to more teaching facilities and the inclusion of programing for a full day on Saturdays, FTSV would be able to significantly expand their youth participant enrollment and outreach programs. The City would benefit as the infrastructure improvements allows for City programing of the youth practice and short game areas which are underutilized due to lack of safety caused by balls landing in the respective areas coming from the adjacent driving range. The staff recommendation is intended for Council to direct staff to develop an LOI or MOU towards establishing a PPP. The proposal from FTSV would be further vetted and negotiated between the parties. It should be noted that there may be interest in constructing a 2nd story or upper deck to the driving range to increase the number of hitting stalls for the purposes of providing additional revenue and increasing availability for customer use. In a preliminary exploration, it was determined that pursuing a 2nd story or upper deck would require an analysis on the investment return, a ball trajectory study, approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an environmental analysis, and various other vetting and feasibility requirements. At present, staff does not have the resources to adequately perform the necessary analysis and studies to determine the feasibility and cost of a 2nd story or upper deck addition to the existing driving range. Pursuing this could delay the timeline to move forward with establishing an LOI or MOU for the FTSV partnership proposal. FUNDING Upon establishment of an LOI or MOU, FTSV would fundraise the full $4.2M+ for infrastructure improvements. FTSV is not anticipating a City contribution towards the cost of the infrastructure improvements as they are aware of the City’s budget constraints. RESOURCE IMPACT In FTSV’s proposal, the City would grant the FTSV $36,000 annually to underwrite program expenses and financial assistance for FTSV participants as outlined in Attachment A. Additionally, if extending the discounted Palo Alto resident golf rates to FTSV family members and residents of East Palo Alto there would be an undetermined revenue reduction impact. However, the financial resource impact to the City is to be determined based on negotiation of terms for the PPP. As any financial support from the City to FTSV is not in the operating budget for the golf course, it would be an ask for approval from Council for budget augmentation. ATTACHMENT Attachment A: Outline of PPP proposal Attachment A Outline of Proposal for Public Private Partnership from the First Tee of Silicon Valley (FTSV) Purpose: Partnership between FTSV and City of Palo Alto for youth development. Facility Use as Teaching Site for Youth Development through learning the game of golf: Build character, instill life-enhancing values, and promote healthy choices. Facility Improvements that are mutually beneficial to Baylands customers and FTSV to (1) facilitate teaching areas, (2) expand/open the customer Youth Practice Area and Short Game Practice Area, and (3) limit the liability of driving range balls going over nets. FTSV character building education to impact the lives of over 1,000 youth at Baylands and outreach to 14,000 youth in local schools and youth organizations. Term: 50 Years • 50 Years consisting of 30 Year Use with a 20 Year Renewal • $1/year payment for facility use Facility Use: Baylands Golf Links • Facility Use for Classes o 8 weeks per annual season, 32 weeks annually o Tuesdays - Fridays during after school hours (exact hours are TBD, but approximately a 2-hour window between 3:30pm – 6:30pm during seasonal daylight hours) o Saturdays 7:30am – 6:30pm  Youth Practice Area  Driving Range (8 hitting stalls including range balls)  Short Game Hole  Practice Chipping Green  6 Tee Times each day • Facility Use for Outreach and Other Activities (Youth Practice Area only) o First Tee hosting of field trips to the course for schools and youth service organizations. o Tuesdays – Fridays during and after school hours • Facility Use for Annual Participant Tournament o 18-hole, shotgun tournament at 3pm on the Saturday two weeks before Labor Day • Facility Use Other than FTSV Classes, Outreach and Other Activities o Pertains to only Youth Practice Area Financial Investment by FTSV: Estimated $4.2M for facility infrastructure improvements. Cost to be fundraised and incurred by FTSV. Facility Improvements by FTSV: Driving Range, Youth Practice Area, and Short Game Practice Area • Raise Height of Driving Range Poles and Nets to prevent range balls from landing outside the range onto the adjacent Youth Practice Area and Short Game Practice Area and adjacent Jones-Day business parking lot • Install ball retention nets at Youth Practice Area to prevent balls from entering the adjacent trail and Embarcadero Rd. and adjacent Jones-Day business parking lot. Additionally, partnership proposal from FTSV includes the following financial contribution from the City: • City grant of $36,000 annually to the FTSV to underwrite program expenses including financial assistance for low income participants. • Extend PA Resident green fee rates to parents of First Tee participants • Extend PA Resident green fee rates to East Palo Alto residents • City maintenance of Youth Practice Area • Community Benefit policy for Baylands course and practice areas that gives priority to all youth in the afternoon. FTSV has a larger vision for investing in improvements to Baylands Golf Links that also includes covered range stalls, relocation of the cart wash area and range ball machine, new practice putting green for the public, and a learning center that includes high performance range stalls, meeting space, bathrooms, offices and storage. Presently estimated to cost $8.8M. This may be something that FTSV pursues in the future depending the success of the current proposal. TO: PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION FROM: DAREN ANDERSON DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY SERVICES DATE: SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 SUBJECT: UPDATE ON VALLEY WATER’S PURIFIED WATER PROJECT RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Parks and Recreation Commission (Commission) receive information on the Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) Purified Water Project. BACKGROUND The Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water), continues to collaborate with the cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View on recycled and purified water planning and expansion projects. Northwest County Recycled Water Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan) was completed in 2019 and presented to the Palo Alto City Council on March 3, 2020. The Strategic Plan included an evaluation to expand recycled water from the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP) to recycled water customers in Stanford, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Key deliverables included: a financial plan, preliminary design, funding strategies, and a study of groundwater in Northwest County. Valley Water contributed 90% of the cost for this effort with Palo Alto contributing the remaining 10%. A Partnership Agreement (Agreement) to Advance Resilient Water Reuse Programs in Santa Clara County between Valley Water and the Cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View was executed at the end of 2019. The Agreement includes three major components including: Valley Water funding a local salt removal facility in Palo Alto (for $16M); an effluent transfer option to Valley Water for a regional purification facility; and a water supply option for the Cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View to request additional water supply if needed. Project Description The Purified Water Project (proposed Project) would include the construction of a new advanced water purification facility (AWPF), water conveyance pipelines to the existing Los Gatos Recharge System complex located in the City of Campbell, lateral pipelines, and associated facilities. The AWPF would be located either at the existing Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center on Zanker Road in San José or located at the Former Los Altos Treatment Plant (FLATP) in Palo Alto. The proposed Project would use advanced water purification processes, including reverse osmosis (RO) treatment and would generate purified water for ground water recharge. The purpose of the proposed Project is to establish greater water supply reliability for Santa Clara County and to help ensure continued groundwater sustainability. The proposed Project’s objectives to meet this purpose are as follows: • Support Valley Water’s water supply reliability goals, including the provision of at least 10% of all water supplies through recycled water • Develop the use of purified water, consistent with Valley Water’s adopted Water Supply Master Plan 2040. • Implement a potable reuse supply project that provides 10 million gallons per day (MGD) to 12.5 MGD production capacity for an annual yield of approximately 11,200 acre-feet per year (AFY) of sustainable purified water supply for long-term/future demands. The proposed Project will utilize a Public-Private Partnership (P3) model to effectively use private sector innovation and financing. The proposed Project, if located in Palo Alto, will provide benefits to the City such as payments for treated wastewater and land lease, as well as increased use of treated wastewater to further regional sustainability and climate adaptation goals. DISCUSSION The proposed site for the AWPF in Palo Alto is the former FLATP Site located at the end of San Antonio Road in Palo Alto. The environmental work includes the delineation of existing wetlands, and the geotechnical work includes a field exploration to determine soil conditions at the site. City and Valley Water staff are collaborating on the discharge of Reverse Osmosis Concentrate from the facility, developing operations parameters and a land lease for the FLATP. The Notice of Preparation (NOP) was released on March 19, 2021 and the public scoping meeting was held on March 29, 2021. Outreach was conducted to encourage attendance at the scoping meeting via an outreach mailer, announcements at tours of the Silicon Valley Advanced Purification Center, and continued engagements with staff from the Cities of San José and Palo Alto to reach key stakeholder groups. Prior to the release of the NOP, Valley Water staff and consultants met with the planning department staff of both Palo Alto and San José as these cities will be the responsible agencies under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Palo Alto and Valley Water staff are meeting regularly to collaborate on outreach related to this project. Staff conducted virtual tours of the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center for two stakeholder groups in Palo Alto: Oshman Family Jewish Community Center and the Palo Alto Fellowship Forum and held informational meetings with environmental stakeholders in Mountain View and Palo Alto. RESOURCE IMPACT Valley Water is implementing this project using a design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) delivery method, also referred to as a public private partnership (P3). ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Valley Water, acting as lead agency for the proposed Project, has determined that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is required to satisfy the requirements of CEQA. The draft EIR will evaluate the proposed Project’s environmental conditions, range of alternatives, potential environmental impacts associated with the proposed Project implementation, and provide mitigation measures. TIMELINE Valley Water’s procurement process is ongoing. A Request for Qualification (RFQ) was released and eight statements of qualifications were submitted. A Request for Proposal (RFP) and the draft EIR will be released in the winter. A tentative timeline is as follows: • Selection and contract award: 2022 • Design: 2022 - 2024 • Construction: 2024-2028 ATTACHMENTS TO: PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSIONs FROM: DAREN ANDERSON DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY SERVICES DATE: SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 SUBJECT: SIDEWALK VENDORS IN OPEN SPACE AND PARKS RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Parks and Recreation Commission review and approve the draft sidewalk vendor regulations and their justifications (Attachment A); and recommend that the City Manager approve the updated Open Space and Park Regulations to add new Regulation R1- 41 (“Sidewalk Vendors”) (Attachment B) upon the City Council’s adoption of a sidewalk vendor ordinance. BACKGROUND Within the City of Palo Alto, the Police Department has historically been delegated the responsibility of regulating and issuing permits to “pushcart vendors” which are defined a person licensed to “offer food intended for immediate consumption or flowers for sale from a wagon, cart or mobile stand from a stationary location on a public sidewalk.” See PAMC section 4.10.035. In 2018, the State of California approved SB 946, which requires cities and counties to permit “sidewalk vendors” to operate within their jurisdictions. SB 946 provides specific provisions for how local governments may regulate sidewalk vendors, and it is intended that local governments will adopt local rules within such limits. SB 946 requires that sidewalk vendors be able to operate in City parks; however, the City may regulate the time, place, and manner of sidewalk vendors if one or more of the following conditions are met: (1) Directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns. (2) Necessary to ensure the public’s use and enjoyment of natural resources and recreational opportunities. (3) Necessary to prevent an undue concentration of commercial activity that unreasonably interferes with the scenic and natural character of the park. The Police Department is currently drafting a replacement ordinance to be compliant with SB 946. As part of this process, Community Services staff and the Parks and Recreation Commission (Commission) is developing new Open Space and Park Regulations for sidewalk vendors in parks and open space. California’s law on sidewalk vendor in parks--Gov. Code 51038(b)(2)(A) and (B). Gov. Code 51038(b) (2) (A) A local authority shall not prohibit a sidewalk vendor from selling food or merchandise in a park owned or operated by the local authority, except the local authority may prohibit stationary sidewalk vendors from vending in the park only if the operator of the park has signed an agreement for concessions that exclusively permits the sale of food or merchandise by the concessionaire. (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a local authority may adopt additional requirements regulating the time, place, and manner of sidewalk vending in a park owned or operated by the local authority if the requirements are any of the following: (i) Directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns. (ii) Necessary to ensure the public’s use and enjoyment of natural resources and recreational opportunities. (iii) Necessary to prevent an undue concentration of commercial activity that unreasonably interferes with the scenic and natural character of the park. DISCUSSION The Community Services Department’s (CSD) goal is to maintain its parks, open spaces, and facilities as safe, well-programmed, and accessible sites for all to enjoy and recreate in. While vending items in a park is allowed in the City of Palo Alto, new regulations are necessary to ensure sanitary, safe, and clean conditions; to protect wildlife and habitat; and to continue to provide a positive visitor experience. On May 25, 2021, the Commission reviewed examples of potential regulations for sidewalk vendors operating in parks and open space (Staff Report). The Commission also established a new Ad Hoc Committee for the Sidewalk Vendors. Commissioners Greenfield, Brown, and Moss serve on the Ad Hoc Committee. The Ad Hoc Committee and staff met multiple times to develop draft regulations that define where and how sidewalk vendors are allowed to operate in park and open space. The draft regulations include maps identifying locations where vendors can operate in open space. The Ad Hoc Committee and staff also developed justifications for each of the sidewalk vendor regulations, and included the relevant rationale categories in SB 946, which allow the City to regulate the time, place, and manner that sidewalk vendors to operate. The Ad Hoc Committee and staff considered several factors while developing the draft regulations. The draft regulations aim to ensure that sidewalk vendors can safely operate in parks and open space without: • Blocking trails and parking spaces • Damaging landscaping and vegetation • Disrupting active and passive recreation for park visitors • Disrupting or harming wildlife and habitat • Impacting scenic views • Damaging park infrastructure • Encouraging food in places where it may cause problems (food stains on playgrounds, encouraging pests that pursue food waste, introducing additional food related waste) TIMELINE • October/November 2021: Anticipated Council discussion and potential adoption of new sidewalk vendor ordinance • Park and Open Space Regulations will go into effect after the ordinance is adopted and 15 days after the updated Open Space and Park Regulations are approved by the City Manager ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A: Draft Sidewalk Vendor Regulations and Justification Attachment B: Park and Open Space Regulations Attachment A Draft Sidewalk Vendor Open Space and Park Regulations with Justifications Note: the (1) (2) and (3) refers to the following rationale categories for park rules defined in SB 946 (2018) and to be adopted as a City ordinance: (4) Directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns; (5) Necessary to ensure the public’s use and enjoyment of natural resources and recreational opportunities; or (6) Necessary to prevent an undue concentration of commercial activity that unreasonably interferes with the scenic and natural character of the park. Vendors shall not vend in the following areas in Palo Alto parks: • Maintenance or storage yards (1) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors are precluded from these areas because maintenance equipment would pose a hazard to vendors and their customers. • Parking lots, parking stalls or designated parking areas (1) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors are precluded from parking areas because it would risk public safety for both the drivers and vendors. • Trails (less than 8 feet wide) (2 and 3) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors on trails less than 8 feet wide would interfere with the public’s enjoyment of the trails and preclude them from using the trail systems. It would also increase trail-widening and otherwise impact the natural condition of the trails, by forcing trail users off trail. • Grass, synthetic turf, synthetic track and vegetated areas. Vendors may only be on hardscape areas, such as asphalt, concrete, decomposed granite, and dirt trails and must be at least 8-feet wide (See above) (2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors would cause damage to the grass and synthetic turf, impacting the public’s ability to use and enjoy the fields. • Recreation areas designated for specific sports or activities. (playing fields, courts, skateparks, etc.) (1 and 2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors would cause damage to the grass and synthetic turf, impacting the public’s ability to use and enjoy the recreation areas. • In any location that interferes in any way with anyone engaged in a physical activity or entering onto any playing field, sport, or similar facility for use by participants or approaching spectators who are watching a sporting activity. o Justification: It is essential that the community be able to safely use parks without undue interference with sidewalk vendors. • Within 100 feet of any building, recreation center, senior center, bathroom, structure, or playground. Sidewalk vendors must not in any way impact the use and operation of these facilities) (2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors located too close to public facilities will exacerbate existing trash build-up, aggressive wildlife seeking food, and add clean-up costs for hard to reach places like playground structures. This would also detract from the public’s ability to enjoy the facilities. • Anywhere in the Baylands Athletic Center and Stanford Palo Alto Playing Fields when snack shacks are open for business and are designated by the City as an exclusive concession. (3) o Justification: City is permitted by state law to exclude sidewalk vendors when there is an exclusive concession in a specific park. • Within 5 feet of park benches (2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors located too close to park benches may prevent park visitors from enjoying the peace and quiet in nature. • Within 25 feet of picnic tables (2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors located too close to picnic tables may prevent park visitors from enjoying a peaceful and quiet experience in nature. • Within 25 feet of any fountain, monument, or art installation (2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors located too close to fountains, monuments, or art installations may block the public’s ability to view and enjoy the features. • Any park or open space area that has an exclusive permitted food provider (e.g. the Baylands Golf Links) o Justification: City is permitted by state law to exclude sidewalk vendors when there is an exclusive concession in a specific park. • 13. Any portion of a park or open space within 250-feet of any school site instructional hours. o Justification: Vendor must not in any way impact the use and operation of school facilities while instruction is in session. In the following Palo Alto Open Space Areas, Sidewalk Vendors are permitted only in the areas specifically designated as follows: Baylands Nature Preserve Justification: Baylands Nature Preserve is an environmentally sensitive area. It is a popular location with limited parking. The selected location is least impactful to park visitors. Sidewalk vendors are not permitted further in the preserve because the park consists mainly of unpaved trails used for hiking and biking use and we want to preserve the natural character of the preserve for park users, not sidewalk vending In the following area of the Baylands Nature Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors. In the following area of the Baylands Nature Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors. In the following area of the Baylands Nature Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors. Esther Clark Park * There are no suitable locations for sidewalk vendors at Esther Clark Park. Justification: Esther Clark Park has no areas that allow for sidewalk vending due the fact it has no sidewalk or paved areas., as well as its location in a single-family residential neighborhood. The park is undeveloped and has no parking lots. The presence of sidewalk vending (in any location in Esther Clark Park) would negatively impact the vegetation and/or block the trails that allow the public to enjoy use of the park. Foothills Nature Preserve Justification: Foothills Nature Preserve is an environmentally sensitive area. It is a popular location with limited parking. One parking space will be converted to a vending location, and the selected location is least impactful to park visitors. Sidewalk vendors are not permitted further in the preserve because the park consists mainly of unpaved trails used for hiking and biking use and we want to preserve the natural character of the preserve for park users, not sidewalk vending. In the following area of the Foothills Nature Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors. Pearson Arastradero Preserve Justification: Pearson Arastradero Preserve is an environmentally sensitive area. It is a popular location with extremely limited parking. The selected location is least impactful to park visitors and the only location where a sidewalk vendor wouldn’t interfere with vehicle, bike, and pedestrian safety. Sidewalk vendors are not permitted further in the preserve because the park consists of unpaved trails used for hiking, biking, and equestrian use and we want to preserve the natural character of the preserve for park users, sidewalk vending. In the following area of the Pearson Arastradero Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors and reduce available parking. Vendors in all park and open space areas are to comply with the following: • Sidewalk vending (including set-up and clean-up) is permitted only between 9:00 A.M. and 30 minutes prior to sunset and vacate the park by sunset. (2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors must exit the park or preserve by sunset in order to complete all clean-up, trash pick-up, and equipment removal while it is still light. It is difficult to clean once the sun has set. • No vending conveyance, stand, or pushcart shall touch, lean against, or be affixed to any lamp post, parking meter, mailbox, traffic signal, picnic table, fire hydrant, tree, plant, planter box, rock formation, bench, bus shelter, or trash can. (1, 2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors should not affix their equipment to any public furniture or facilities in order to prevent damage and to allow the public to utilize the facilities (e.g., allow the public to use a trash can, wait for a bus, and not obscure signage, etc.) • Nothing in these regulations authorizes vending of personal services including but not limited to boot camps, massage services, yoga, dog training, animal rides, petting zoos, or sports/fitness classes. (2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors should not advertise or offer personal services that may cause noise, crowds, or other impacts that may detract from the ability of the public to enjoy the park. Permitted vendors of sports, fitness, and other classes have permits with the City. Unpermitted and unregulated services may result in health and safety risks. • Cannot sell products whose use is prohibited in the park, including tobacco and cannabis. (2) o Justification: Parks are intended to be safe and enjoyable for all park users. Sidewalk vendor should not sell items that would promote breaking existing rules and laws within parks. • Cannot sell unsanitary or unsafe, dangerous, or harmful food, beverage, or merchandise. Including archery equipment, knives, sling shots, or any objects that appear to be weapons, such as squirt guns, toy guns, or toy knives. (1) o Justification: Parks and Open Space areas are intended to be safe and enjoyable for all park users. Wildlife are protected and may not be harassed or harmed in anyway. Sidewalk vendors should not sell anything that could promote disruptive or dangerous activities. • Are responsible for clean-up, storage, and subsequent removal from the park or preserve of any waste, food items, package, litter, or materials occurring because of or related to their vending activity. (1, 2, 3) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors must completely clean anything left behind from their activity. Any remaining debris would detract from the public’s ability to enjoy the natural beauty of the park and may cause damage to the natural character of the park. It may also attract pests. • Are prohibited from placing any liquid or solid waste in park trash cans, including dumping ice on park property. Vendors must pack out their garbage and waste, including grease. (1, 2, 3) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors cannot dump any material onto park property as it may limit the public’s ability to enjoy certain areas of the park (if an area is wet or has an odor) and it may degrade the landscape or vegetation of the park and open space areas. It may pose a risk to wildlife and may attract pests. • Are prohibited from hooking up to or using any water, electrical, or gas outlets for the sale of their food or merchandise. (1, 2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors should not utilize city-utilities for commercial activity as it would detract from the public’s ability to use those facilities and/or the city staff, or City’s contractor’s use of the utilities to service the park for the enjoyment of the public. • Are prohibited from using park benches and picnic tables. (1, 2) o Justification: Sidewalk vendors should not utilize park benches and picnic tables for commercial activity as it would detract from the public’s ability to use those facilities. • For parks, the number of vendors per park are limited (a) to two (2) vendors per acre and not within 25 feet of another vendor, and (b) not to exceed eight (8) at any one time. For open space areas, only one vendor at a time is allowed in the designated area (see maps) o Justification: An excessive number of vendors would detract from the park user experience and the natural beauty of the park or preserve. • Vending in park shall be on a first come first available basis. (2) o Justification: Vendors cannot reserve space. Neither the Police or Park Rangers have the available resources to manage a vendor reservation program. • Vending is prohibited during any City sponsored or permitted special event (e.g., festival, concert, movie night, class, carnival, parade, running event, class, or other permitted activity). (1,2) o Justification: City sponsored or permitted special events are exceptionally crowded and busy, and thus require all vendors to be permitted and show proof of insurance; as well as being coordinated with the event. • For open space areas, sidewalk vendors shall not make any outcry, blow a horn, ring a bell, or use any sound devices or musical instruments for the purpose of attracting the attention of potential patrons. The City noise ordinance applies to all areas within the City. o Justification: such noise could negatively impact wildlife and the park user experience. Attachment B City of Palo Alto PARK AND OPEN SPACE REGULATIONS (Last Updated February 2021) Contents R1-1. DEFINITIONS..................................................................................................................12 R1-2. APPLICABILITY ..............................................................................................................12 R1-3. CLOSURE OF FACILITIES - AUTHORITY ......................................................................12 R1-4. CONTENTS OF PERMIT APPLICATION; SUBMISSION ................................................13 R1-5. ACTION ON PERMIT APPLICATION ..............................................................................13 R1-6. FOOTHILLS PARK – RESERVATIONS AND VEHICLE ENTRY .....................................14 R1-7. PERMIT – EXHIBITION ...................................................................................................14 R1-8. HOURS OF PARK CLOSURE .........................................................................................14 R1-9. HAZARDOUS GAMES OR ACTIVITIES ..........................................................................15 R1-9A. USE OF METAL DETECTORS IN PARKS ...................................................................15 R1-10. PICNIC SITE USAGE ....................................................................................................15 R1-10A. LYTTON, COGSWELL AND KING PLAZA..................................................................15 R1-10B. LYTTON PLAZA NOISE REGULATION ......................................................................16 R1-11. RACQUET COURT (TENNIS AND PICKLEBALL) USAGE ...........................................17 R1-12. ATHLETIC FIELD USE ..................................................................................................17 R1-13. PEERS PARK AND JOHNSON PARK VOLLEYBALL USE ...........................................18 R1-14. SKATEBOARD FACILITY .............................................................................................18 R1-15. GOLF COURSE ............................................................................................................18 R1-16. SWIMMING ...................................................................................................................19 R1-17. BOAT USE ....................................................................................................................20 R1-18. BICYCLES, SKATEBOARDS AND ROLLER SKATES ..................................................21 R1-19. HUMAN FLIGHT ...........................................................................................................21 R1-20. TRAIL USE SPEED LIMITS ..........................................................................................21 R1-20A. USE OF DESIGNATED TRAILS, PATHS AND RECREATIONAL LAWN AREAS IN OPEN SPACE LANDS ..............................................................................................................21 R1-21. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES AND SOLICITATION ........................................................21 R1-21A. COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILMING .......................................................22 R1-22. RESTROOMS ...............................................................................................................22 R1-23. UNAUTHORIZED USE OF KEYS OR LOCKS ..............................................................22 R1-24. WATER POLLUTION ....................................................................................................23 R1-25. HARMFUL SUBSTANCES ............................................................................................23 R1-26. LITTERING ...................................................................................................................23 R1-27. DISPOSAL OF EFFLUENT ...........................................................................................23 R1-28. SMOKING .....................................................................................................................23 R1-29. FIREWORKS.................................................................................................................24 R1-30. ANIMALS ......................................................................................................................24 R1-31. NUISANCE DOGS ........................................................................................................25 R1-32. DOG EXERCISE AREA ................................................................................................25 R1-33. UNAUTHORIZED CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES ........................................................25 R1-34. USE OF UTILITIES .......................................................................................................25 R1-35. GATHERING WOOD IN OPEN SPACE AREAS ...........................................................26 R1-36. PARKING RESTRICTIONS ...........................................................................................26 R1-37. OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES ...........................................................................26 R1-37A. VEHICLE WEIGHT LIMIT ON BAYLANDS ROADS AND PARKING LOTS ................27 R1-38. VIOLATION – PENALTY ...............................................................................................27 R1-39. PLAYGROUNDS ...........................................................................................................27 R1-40. COMMUNITY GARDENS ..............................................................................................27 R1-41. SIDEWALK VENDORS .................................................................................................27 R1-1. DEFINITIONS The following words and phrases, whenever used in these regulations, shall be construed as defined in these regulations. A. "City" means the City of Palo Alto. B. "department" means the Community Services Department of the City. C. "facility" or "park facility" means any body of water, land, campsite, garden, trail, levee, recreation area, building, structure, system, equipment, machinery or other appurtenance owned, managed, controlled or operated by the Community Services Department. D. “director” means the Director of Community Services of the City. R1-2. APPLICABILITY The provisions of these regulations apply to all facilities under the jurisdiction of the Community Services Department. R1-3. CLOSURE OF FACILITIES - AUTHORITY The director shall have the authority to close any park facility or portion thereof and require the exit of all persons therein when he or she determines that conditions exist in said facility or portion thereof which presents a hazard to the facility or to public safety. No person shall use, enter or remain in any facility, Park or Open Space which has been posted as being closed under this authority. A. The Open Space, Parks and Golf Division Manager shall have the authority to close Open Space trails which have been designated as “seasonal trails” when weather conditions predispose the trail or surrounding habitat to damage or erosion. Such trail closures will be posted on park bulletin boards and at the affected trail junctions. B. The Open Space, Parks and Golf Division Manager shall have the authority to temporarily close Open Space trails or facilities when the damage of flora or fauna are threatened by humans or their pets. Such facility closures will be posted on park bulletin boards and at affected trail junctions or facilities. R1-4. CONTENTS OF PERMIT APPLICATION; SUBMISSION Whenever a permit is required by provision in these regulations, an application shall be filed with the director stating: A. The name of each applicant, sponsoring organization and the person(s) who is in charge of or responsible for the proposed activity; B. The address and telephone numbers of each person and/or entity named in subsection (A); C. The name of the Park, Open Space land, building, field or tennis courts requested for the activity, specifically identifying the location of the activity within the park or room within the building; D. The date and starting time of the proposed activity, together with the anticipated arrival time of guests; The finish time of the proposed activity, including cleanup; E. The number of persons expected to attend the activity; F. Additional City facilities requested, such as personnel, tables, chairs, etc; G. The nature of the proposed activity or activities, including equipment and vehicles to be brought into the Park or Open Space lands; nature and duration of the use of such equipment; nature and duration of the use of any amplified sound; whether fees or donations for service will be solicited or collected; and whether alcohol will be served. H. Proof of Palo Alto residency may be required for the permit application. I. The necessity for street closure in order to hold an event. J. The permit application shall be filed with the director by no later than seven (7) days prior to the date of the special event. R1-5. ACTION ON PERMIT APPLICATION The director shall issue a permit within five (5) business days after submission of a completed application if: A. The proposed activity or use of the facility will not unreasonably interfere with or detract from the general public enjoyment of the facility; B. A facility with the required occupancy load capacity is available; C. All conditions, including, where applicable, the payment of fees, approval of the Director of Community Services and insurance coverage, security deposits and/or requirements are met; D. The proposed activity or use will not entail unusual, extraordinary or burdensome expense or security operation by the department; E. If the proposed special event will have more than twenty-five (25) individuals in attendance, involve road closures, traffic control, or the need for inter- departmental review (for example, for a “fun run” or a “live music” event), an additional City-wide special event application from the Police Department may be required for the event. City-wide special event permit applications are not generally required for standard picnic reservations. Completed City-wide special event permit applications may be filed as early as one year before the event but must be received no later than 30 days before the actual event date, and no later than 90 days before the actual date of the event if the event requires a street closure. F. The facilities desired have not been reserved for other use; G. Special conditions requested in applications are reasonable and feasible. H. The proposed activity will not negatively impact habitat, wildlife, or vegetation in the Park or Open Space area. I. Residency requirements, if any, have been satisfied. R1-6. FOOTHILLS PARK – RESERVATIONS AND VEHICLE ENTRY A. Resident Reservation Preference. The Towle Campground, Oak Grove Group Picnic Area, and the Interpretive Center meeting room at Foothills Park shall have Resident Reservation Preference in making reservations. No other facility existing as of December 2020 shall have Resident Reservation Preference. Resident Reservation Preference shall be one that permits residents to have access to reservations for no longer than the first 25% of the time period during which reservations for the subject facility may be made. Thus, if the facility in question is made available for reservation by residents for 4 weeks’ time prior to the date of the reservation, the facility must be made available for reservation by non-residents for at least 3 weeks’ time before the date of reservation. (Note: This rule is governed by the 2020 settlement agreement regarding Foothills Park). B. Vehicle Entry Fee. All motor vehicles entering Foothills Park shall be subject to a vehicle entry fee as listed in the City’s Municipal Fee Schedule. Violators shall be subject to administrative citation for failure to comply with park regulations per PAMC 22.04.030. This regulation does not apply to City councilmembers, staff, contractors, or volunteers while conducting official City business/operations in Foothills Park. R1-7. PERMIT – EXHIBITION No person shall fail to produce and exhibit a permit he or she claims to have upon request of any department employee, contracted park ranger or any public or peace officer who desires to inspect the permit for the purpose of enforcing compliance with any regulations of this chapter. R1-8. HOURS OF PARK CLOSURE For purposes of enforcement of the Park and Open Space closure restrictions promulgated in Chapter 22.04 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, the terms “sunset” and “sunrise” are defined with reference to a table of times that is determined annually and posted at Open Space facilities. Closure times specified in Chapter 22.04 as implemented by this regulation shall be posted prominently at each Park or Open Space facility and shall be posted on the City’s web site. R1-9. HAZARDOUS GAMES OR ACTIVITIES The playing of games and/or activities involving propelled or thrown objects which are sharp or heavy (such as stones, shot puts, arrows or javelins) are prohibited except when a permit is issued by the director in areas compatible for such use. Except in designated areas of Mitchell Park where inflatable structures can be used by City staff or designated contractors as part of a City-sponsored program, inflatable structures, miniature trains designed or used for passengers, pony rides, and dunking tank attractions are prohibited in Parks or Open Space areas. R1-9A. USE OF METAL DETECTORS IN PARKS Metal detectors for the purpose of scavenging can only be used within park facilities in such a fashion where turf or landscaped areas are not disturbed, cut or dug into. R1-10. PICNIC SITE USAGE Group picnic site reservations at Mitchell Park Arbor, East Meadow, Pine Grove and Redwood areas; and Rinconada Park Sequoia area are available to Palo Alto residents only. No more than 60 individuals shall occupy a group picnic site at Mitchell Park Arbor, East Meadow and Redwood areas; 100 individuals at the Pine Grove picnic area; 75 individuals at Rinconada Park Sequoia picnic area; or 150 individuals at Foothills Park Oak Grove. No more than 15 individuals shall occupy any table in an individual picnic site at Mitchell Park and Rinconada Park. With the exception of the two table/one barbecue at individual picnic sites of Mitchell Park, each group of participants shall not occupy more than one individual site. R1-10A. LYTTON, COGSWELL AND KING PLAZA A. Use of tables: For permitted events and activities, no more than four six-foot tables are permitted at one time at Cogswell Plaza; no more than ten six-foot tables are permitted at Lytton Plaza; and no more than twenty six-foot tables are permitted at King Plaza. Tables shall not be arranged in a configuration longer than twelve-foot wide span and there must be a minimum of three-feet between sets. B. The City shall be compensated the full cost of replacement of any chair, tables or other furnishings damaged by the event or special use. C. Special event organizers must cover existing trash receptacles and provide their own waste stations (compost/recycle/trash) that they will then be responsible for removing after the event. D. Damage deposits may be required for any special event or use at the discretion of City staff. E. No tables, tents or other structures shall be set up closer than ten (10) feet from the nearest structure. F. Shade canopies may be authorized in a permit so long as the shade structure measures ten-foot by ten-foot, or less. Canopies shall be weighted or anchored to prevent blowing over. G. Stage platforms shall be no higher than twenty-four inches tall and ten-feet by twelve-feet in maximum area. H. As per the Chapter 22.04 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, no alcoholic beverages may be served or consumed at these plaza parks. I. No barricades or cordoning off areas of the plaza. J. No jump/bounce houses are permitted on plaza. K. Special event organizers must supply a layout of all items to be placed within plaza and be approved by City staff before the event. L. As per Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 22.04.160, no commercial solicitation or business transactions other than those associated with and supportive of City programs or City-sponsored activities for which a permit has been issued by the director is permitted in parks or plazas. M. As per Palo Alto Municipal Code section 22.04.300, open flames, including candles, are not allowed without a permit from the Director in these Plazas. R1-10B. LYTTON PLAZA NOISE REGULATION A. A permit under Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 22.04.040 is not required of any person in order to engage in the playing of an amplified musical instrument at Lytton Plaza, which otherwise meets the requirements of sections 9.10.050 and 22.04.180 and subject to the following: the playing of an amplified musical instrument occurs on a first-come, first-served basis during the following days and times of day: (a) Monday through Thursday, 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM; (b) Friday, 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM; (c) Saturday, noon to 11:00 PM; and Sunday, noon to 10:00 PM. The term “first-come, first-served” means the first person or group of persons to commence playing an amplified musical instrument at Lytton Plaza shall be entitled to play to the exclusion of all others for a period not exceeding three (3) consecutive hours. B. A City-wide special event permit application is required of any person seeking to engage in the playing of an amplified musical instrument at Lytton Plaza outside of the days and times of day specified in paragraph A above. No unpermitted amplified musical instrument may be played during the period of time for which a person holds a permit to play an amplified musical instrument. C. Paragraph A notwithstanding, a person may file a City-wide special event permit application to play an amplified musical instrument within the time period specified in R1-4. If a City-wide special event permit is issued, the permit holder’s right to play any musical instrument at Lytton Plaza will take precedence over any person claiming the right to play under the first-come, first-served basis condition set forth in paragraph A of this Rule. D. The director will post or caused to be posted to the department’s web site the days and times of days for which reservations to play musical instruments have been secured. E. The preceding paragraphs notwithstanding, the playing of any acoustic musical instrument at Lytton Plaza is permitted during posted park use hour or, if no hours are posted, during the regular park use hours. F. A City-wide special event permit application shall be filed whenever a group of more than twenty-five (25) persons attends the playing of any musical instrument or musical instruments regardless of whether any instrument is amplified or acoustic. G. The noise ordinances set forth in Palo Alto Municipal Code chapters 9.10 and 22.04 shall apply to all persons playing amplified and acoustic musical instruments at Lytton Plaza. R1-11. RACQUET COURT (TENNIS AND PICKLEBALL) USAGE Any person or group using a City racquet court shall do so according to the following rules: A. No person shall operate, drive or ride a bicycle, unicycle, roller skates, roller blades, skateboard or other coasting device on City-owned tennis courts. B. No person shall provide or offer lessons for compensation on City-owned tennis courts except as part of a City-sponsored program, class or camps. C. City-owned racquet courts may be reserved for City programs and tournament play only. D. All players must use the court control board to determine which court they shall play on and their playing position. E. No individual person can occupy a court by him or herself if other persons are waiting to play. F. Unleashed dogs are not permitted within courts. G. No person shall play a sport other than tennis or pickleball on City-owned courts unless expressly allowed via permit issued by the Community Services Department. H. Mitchell Park racquet courts 6 and 7 are dual-use courts with designated pickleball and tennis times. Pickleball has priority from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM seven days a week. Tennis has priority from 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM seven days a week. If courts are not in use, anyone can use the court but must vacate the space if the priority sport arrives and needs the space. R1-12. ATHLETIC FIELD USE Any person or group using a City athletic field shall do so according to the following rules: A. No activity other than softball (or Little League baseball) is permitted at El Camino Park softball field unless expressly allowed by permit. B. No activity other than baseball is permitted at Baylands Athletic Center Baseball Field unless expressly allowed by permit. C. No activity other than softball is permitted at Baylands Athletic Center Softball Field unless expressly allowed by permit. D. No person shall use an athletic field which is posted (on-site, on-line, or by voice message) as being closed, whether the closure is for excess rainfall or for field maintenance or other reason. E. Field markings applied to athletic fields shall be allowed by permit only and must follow City of Palo Alto Open Space, Parks and Golf Division guidelines. F. Soccer goals must be anchored at all times when located on the playing fields. When goals are not being utilized for play, they must be secured off the playing fields in a manner which will not permit tipping or any hazardous condition that might cause injury to any person. When a field is being utilized for multiple purposes, goals that interfere with the intended use of the field shall be provided by the user groups that require the use of a soccer goal. These goals must be assembled and disassembled before and after each event. The storage of these goals can be coordinated with the Recreation Division. Any goal left on site will be removed and stored until a removal/storage fee of $75.00 is paid. R1-13. PEERS PARK AND JOHNSON PARK VOLLEYBALL USE Any person or group playing volleyball or related game at Peers or Johnson Parks shall do so according to the following rules: A. Drop-in volleyball or related game play is permitted only in the posted area at Johnson Park or on the north end of Peers Park. B. The volleyball area may be reserved for volleyball play, by permit, only on the first Saturday and first Thursday of each month. The director may make additional weekend days available for reservation during the months of June, July and August. R1-14. SKATEBOARD FACILITY The Skateboard Facility, located in John Lucas Greer Park, is for skateboard use only. Use of roller blades, scooters, bicycles, or any other equipment other than skateboards is prohibited. Any person using or playing upon the skateboard facility shall do so according to the following rules: A. Each person skateboarding in the Skateboard Facility must wear a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads. B. Use of roller blades, scooters, bicycles, or any other equipment, other than skateboards is prohibited. C. No more than seven persons shall skate in the bowl at any given time. D. No person shall do a body flip while riding a skateboard. E. No person shall ride a skateboard facing entirely backwards. F. Two or more persons may not ride on the same skateboard. G. No person shall ride a skateboard on their knees. H. No person shall cause a skateboard to shoot out away from their feet or body. I. No persons shall skateboard in tandem within three (3) feet in front or behind another rider. J. No glass containers are allowed in the facility. K. No skateboarding is allowed when the facility is wet or while it is raining. L. Trash receptacles are to be used to dispose of waste or any other unwanted items. No person shall use, remain in or enter the Skateboard Facility outside of regular park hours between 10:30 PM and sunrise (PAMC 22.04.320). No person shall enter or remain in the Skateboard Facility when that facility is posted as being closed, whether such closure is because of excess moisture or hazard or for any other reason. R1-15. GOLF COURSE Any person or group using or playing upon the golf course shall do so according to the following rules: A. No person shall use the golf course, or any portion thereof, without first having obtained a receipt or other written authorization in due form so to do. B. No golf player shall cut in on, or double back over, any portion of the course, or to play upon the course without a receipt duly issued for the round being played. C. No golf player shall refuse to or fail to show such golf receipt or other written authorization to any employee connected with the municipal golf course, when requested to do so. D. No person shall willfully or maliciously injure any turf on the golf course or in any way destroy or injure property thereon or remove property or equipment from the golf course. E. Privately owned power golf carts are not allowed to be used on the municipal golf course. R1-16. SWIMMING No person shall swim, bathe or wade in any water or waterways within any park facility when such activity is prohibited and so posted by the director. No person shall use, remain in or enter the Rinconada Pool facility between the hours listed as follows: January 1 through June 15 9:00 PM – 6:00 AM. June 16 through December 31 10:00 PM – 6:00 AM. Rules for the safe use of the Rinconada Swimming complex: A. Children 7 years of age and younger must be directly supervised by a chaperone 16 years of age or older. Chaperones must wear a swimsuit, accompany the child in the water and be within arm’s length at all times. Children may not be left unattended in the facility at any time. B. All swimmers must wear swimsuits. Clothing including undergarments is not permitted. Clean overshirts are permitted for modesty or sun protection as long as they are worn over swimsuits. Infants and toddlers who are not yet toilet trained must wear swim diapers. C. Flotation devices including water wings, padded swimsuits and inner tubes are not permitted except US Coast Guard approved lifejackets. D. Flippers, snorkel masks, and hard balls are not permitted. E. All persons entering the facility must pay, including those not intending to swim, except children 2 years of age and younger. F. Patrons must pay again to re-enter the facility after leaving. G. Walk at all times on the pool deck. H. Bicycles, rollerblades, scooters, and skateboards are not permitted on the pool deck. I. Dogs, cats and other animals are not permitted on the pool deck (does not apply to service animals as defined by state and federal law). J. Fighting, roughhousing, chicken fighting, screaming, profane language, and pretending to drown is not permitted in the facility. K. Patrons are not permitted to sit on guard chairs, lane lines, starting blocks or railings. L. Barbecues, alcohol and glass/breakable containers are not permitted in the facility. M. Food and drinks must be consumed at picnic tables, on grass and farther than 10 feet from poolside. N. Heed instructions from Lifeguards and overhead announcements at all times. O. Aquatics staff reserves the right to ask anyone who violates these rules to leave the facility. P. To maintain a safe environment, pool rules are subject to change at any time. Lap Pool: A. Swimmers must be able to swim competently for at least one lap to enter the deep end and/or use the diving boards. Lifeguards have sole discretion. Please ask for a swim test. B. Lap swimmers using lap lanes during recreation swim may use flippers, kickboards and snorkels as needed. Flippers, kickboards and snorkels are not permitted outside of the lap swim lanes. Non-lap swimmers are not permitted to swim across lap lanes. Diving boards: A. One person on the board and ladder at a time. B. Wait to dive until area is clear. C. Walk or perform a proper diving approach. Do not run on the diving board. D. Bounce only once and jump/dive off the end of the board facing forward. E. Divers may not jump to anyone in the pool and must swim to the wall unassisted. After diving, swim out toward the closest ladder. Do not swim under, between or in front of the diving boards. Wading Pool: A. Swimmers must be able to reach the foot pedals to use the “Aquaducks.” Pedaling with hands is not permitted. B. Swimmers may not sit on or otherwise block the water pressure of the fountains. Slide: A. Swimmers must be no taller than the slide to use it. B. One person is permitted on the slide and ladder at a time. Form line on the ground. C. Do not stand, jump or push other swimmers off the top of the slide. D. Swimmers must go down slide sitting, feet first. R1-17. BOAT USE The dock at Foothills Park and the sailing platform at the Baylands Nature Preserve is intended for the hand launching of canoes, kayaks, small inflatable boats and boats less than sixteen feet in length. The launching of any larger vessel is prohibited. While hand carts may be used to carry boats from the parking lot to the dock or sailing platform, hand carts or other personal equipment may not be used on the docks or left unattended in the immediate vicinity of the dock or sailing platform. Items left unattended will be impounded by a park ranger or police officer. A. Sail boards, sail craft and motorized boats are prohibited on Boronda Lake in Foothills Park. R1-18. BICYCLES, SKATEBOARDS AND ROLLER SKATES A. Bicycles are prohibited on unpaved trails of Foothills Park. Skateboards, roller skates or blades, scooters, and other coasting devices are prohibited in Foothills Park. B. Bicycles are prohibited on unpaved trails of Open Space parks and preserves, unless designated for bike access within the Pearson-Arastradero and Baylands Preserves. Skateboards, roller skates or blades, or other coasting devices are prohibited in Open Space parks and preserves, except on paved, multi-use bike paths. C. Helmets: No person shall operate a bicycle or similar device on Parks or Open Space preserves without wearing an A.N.S.I. or Snell-approved bicycle helmet for head protection. No parent or guardian shall allow any child under the age of 18 to ride a bicycle without a helmet. D. Unsafe operation: No person shall operate a bicycle in a reckless or negligent manner so as to endanger public property, or the life, limb, or property of any person or animal. No person shall ride in or upon a portion of a bicycle not intended for passengers. No person shall operate a bicycle while wearing earphones that interfere with hearing ambient noise. E. No person shall leave a bicycle, scooter or skateboard in any place or position where other persons may trip over or be injured by it. R1-19. HUMAN FLIGHT No person shall hang-glide, parachute, parasail or engage in any human flight on, over, or into park or Open Space, except by written permit in designated areas. R1-20. TRAIL USE SPEED LIMITS The maximum speed for all trail uses is 15 miles per hour, unless a lesser maximum speed is posted, and no person shall exceed the maximum speed on any trail; however, no person shall operate a bicycle, or ride a horse or other such animal at a speed greater than is reasonable, prudent, or safe. Bicyclists and equestrians are required to slow to 5 miles per hour when passing others or approaching blind turns. R1-20A. USE OF DESIGNATED TRAILS, PATHS AND RECREATIONAL LAWN AREAS IN OPEN SPACE LANDS No person other than authorized City staff or other persons specifically authorized by City staff shall walk, run or tread in any Open Space lands except on designated trails, paths, recreational lawn areas or roads, unless expressly permitted to do so pursuant to park regulations or a special use permit. “Designated trails” is defined as those trails which appear on current City of Palo Alto park maps, planning documents, trail guides and/or those trails marked with City directional signs. R1-21. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES AND SOLICITATION Commercial activities are prohibited in Parks and Open Space lands unless they are associated with and supportive of City programs or City-sponsored activities for which a permit has been issued by the Director. Persons soliciting for donations or engaging in commercial activities approved by the Director shall comply with all applicable laws, including those requirements for permits issued under Title 4 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code as applicable. R1-21A. COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILMING No person shall photograph or film for commercial purposes in City Parks or Open Space except pursuant to a permit authorizing such activity or except for those activities associated with and supportive of City programs or City-sponsored events. For the purpose of this section, “photograph or film for commercial purposes” means the recording, on any medium, of still or motion images that involves the use of professional models or commercial articles filmed or photographed for the purpose of commercial advertising, or the use professional casts, settings, or crews in any motion picture, television, or similar production. This section shall not apply to the commercial operation of cameras as part of the bona fide reporting of news, or for small photo or film events, consisting of a single photographer or videographer with a total group size of no more than 24 persons (permit is required for exclusive use of any area of park land), as long as all other rules and regulations are followed. A. Applications shall be submitted not less than ten (10) working days before the proposed use. B. No sound amplification equipment, which will disturb the peace, may be used in connection with any photo shoot, except when used by City employees or safety officers for purposes of crowd control. C. No permit shall be granted for any event between the hours of 8:00 PM and 9:00 AM without the prior approval of the Director. D. No permit shall be granted when the closure would result in hampering prompt access to an area or location by emergency vehicles. E. Wherever appropriate, the City will require the applicant to provide and erect barricades according to City specifications for public safety. The person or persons making the application shall be responsible for placing and dismantling all barricades. All barricades shall be removed within one-half (1/2) hour of the ending time of the event. Barricades shall also be immediately removed upon request of any authorized officer or employee of the City. In some situations, the Permittee may be required by the City to provide traffic control and a qualified flag person if City streets or parking lots are involved. R1-22. RESTROOMS Male persons shall not enter any restroom or washroom set apart for females, and female persons shall not enter any restroom or washroom set apart for males; except, this shall not apply to persons with special needs or their accompanying attendants or children under the age of six years old who are accompanied by a person who is of the sex designated for that facility and who has reason to be responsible for such person. R1-23. UNAUTHORIZED USE OF KEYS OR LOCKS No person other than one acting under the direction of the Director shall duplicate or cause to be duplicated a key used by the department for a padlock or door lock of any type or description, nor shall any person divulge the combination of any lock so equipped to any unauthorized person. No person, other than the one acting under the direction of the director, shall use a key to access any Park and/or Open Space facilities. The director may issue keys to user groups. Said user groups must use the keys for permitted activity only and return issued keys to the City upon completion of the activity. No person shall place a lock upon any gate or fence in any Park or Open Space area without prior permission from the Director. R1-24. WATER POLLUTION While within the boundaries of any park facility, no person shall throw, discharge or otherwise place or cause to be placed in the waters of any fountain, pond, lake, stream, bay or other body of water or in any tributary, stream or drain flowing into such waters any substance, matter or thing, liquid or solid, including but without limitation to, particles or objects made of paper, metal, glass, garbage, rubbish, rubber, fuel, plant material, food matter, fiber and plastics. R1-25. HARMFUL SUBSTANCES No person shall possess, place, or apply any substance harmful to any person, property, wildlife, or vegetation on Park or Open Space lands. R1-26. LITTERING No person within any City Park, Open Space lands, and City operated community garden shall leave any garbage, trash, cans, bottles, papers or other refuse elsewhere than in the receptacles provided therefor. Disposing of garbage, trash, cans, bottles, papers or other refuse not generated within City Park or Open Space lands is prohibited. PAMC 22.04.230. R1-27. DISPOSAL OF EFFLUENT No person shall deposit waste water, sewage or effluent from sinks, portable toilets, or other fixtures upon or into the ground or water. R1-28. SMOKING No person shall smoke any substance in any public places or any area that is within twenty feet of bleachers, backstops, or play structures or any area designated as a playground, nature trail or nature area or in or on any park facility where smoking is posted as being prohibited. Pursuant to Palo Alto Municipal Ordinance 9.14.010 (i), public places are defined as: "Public places" means enclosed areas within publicly and privately-owned buildings, structures, facilities, or complexes that are open to, used by, or accessible to the general public. Public places include, but are not limited to, stores, banks, eating establishments, bars, hotels, motels, depots and transit terminals, theaters and auditoriums, enclosed sports arenas, convention centers, museums, galleries, polling places, hospitals and other health care facilities of any kind (including clinics, dental, chiropractic, or physical therapy facilities), automotive service centers, general business offices, nonprofit entity offices and libraries. Public places further include, but are not limited to, hallways, restrooms, stairways, escalators, elevators, lobbies, reception areas, waiting rooms, indoor service lines, checkout stations, counters and other pay stations, classrooms, meeting or conference rooms, lecture rooms, buses, or other enclosed places that are open to, used by, or accessible to the general public. R1-29. FIREWORKS No person shall possess, give, sell, discharge, set off, or cause to be discharged, on or into any portion of Park or Open Space lands any firecrackers, missiles, rockets, fireworks, or explosives. R1-30. ANIMALS No person other than public or peace officers, rangers, city naturalists, animal control officers in the discharge of their duties shall: A. Hunt, molest, harm, provide a noxious substance to, frighten, kill, trap, chase, tease, shoot or throw missiles at any animal within the boundaries of any park facility, nor remove nor have in his possession the young, eggs or nest of any such creature; B. Abandon any animal, dead or alive, within any park facility; C. Remove any animal not his own from within any park facility; exception is made to the foregoing in that proper season, fish may by fished and removed from areas designated for fishing by licensed persons, in accordance with the California Fish and Game Code and other related laws, and boarded horses may be removed from a park facility, upon proper notification to the department; D. Bring into or maintain in or upon any park facility any dog, cat or other animal unless such animal at all times is kept on a leash (extended no further than six (6) feet while in Open Space lands) and under full control of its owner or custodian; provided, however, the Director may designate areas and times within which persons may exercise, show, demonstrate or train unleashed animals under full control or their owners or custodians. No person shall allow a dog, cat, or domesticated animal, even if leashed, to disturb, chase, molest, injure, or take any kind of native wildlife, whether living or dead, or remove, destroy, or in any manner disturb the natural habitat of any animal on Parks or Open Space land. PAMC 22.04.155 E. Permit cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, or other animals owned by him/her or in his/her possession to graze within the boundaries of any park facility without express approval of the director; F. No person shall keep or raise cattle, horses, sheep, or other livestock on Park or Open Space land, unless pursuant to a lease, license, or other entitlement of use granted by the City of Palo Alto. G. Ride or lead a horse, pony, mule, burro or other animal onto or over any park facility, other than at times and upon roads or trails designated for riding of animals; except with approval of the Director. H. No person owning or having custody or control of any dog shall permit such dog to defecate on any public street, sidewalk, park or parkway without immediately removing the resulting excrement at the time of occurrence. The excrement so removed shall not be disposed of on any property listed in this chapter except in public refuse receptacles. Persons using service animals are exempt from this section. I. No person owning or harboring any dog or other animal shall allow or permit such dog or animal to swim, bathe or wade in any water or waterways within any park facility when such activity is prohibited and so posted by the Director. R1-31. NUISANCE DOGS No person shall allow or have on Park or Open Space land a dog that is threatening or a nuisance to people, other animals, or property. This includes, but is not limited to growling, barking, bearing of teeth, or challenging in any manner, people, animals, or property. PAMC 6.20.040 Care should be taken with leashed pets in playgrounds to ensure that their presence does not impact children’s use and they should be removed upon request from other playground users. R1-32. DOG EXERCISE AREA A. Dogs may be allowed off leash only within the designated dog exercise areas in Hoover Park, Greer Park, Mitchell Park, and Peers Park. B. Dogs must be licensed, vaccinated, and wearing a collar with ID and license tag. C. Dogs must be leashed until safely inside the dog park and returned to a leash prior to exiting. D. Dog owners must remain in the fenced area and monitor and manage their dogs at all times. E. Dogs behaving aggressively must be removed from the dog park immediately. F. Dog waste must be picked up. G. Children accompanying dog owners must be closely supervised. H. No more than three dogs per person. I. No food or alcohol. J. The small dog section is for dogs 25lb and less. The mixed size dog section is for both large and small dogs. (Applicable at dog parks with this option.) K. Dog Park Hours are 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM. L. The City of Palo Alto assumes no liability for the users of this area. Use these facilities at your own risk. R1-33. UNAUTHORIZED CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES No person shall deposit any earth, sand, rock, stone or other substance within any park facility, nor shall he/she dig or remove any such material from within any park facility, nor shall he/she erect or attempt to erect any building, wharf or structure of any kind by driving or setting up posts or piles, nor in any manner appropriate or encumber any portion of the real property owned by, operated, controlled or managed by the department without a permit from the director. R1-34. USE OF UTILITIES A. Electrical, phone, data communication, and cable receptacles in Parks and Open Space may only be used or accessed for private use within the terms of a special use permit granted by the Community Services Department. B. Gas fixtures, water faucet spigots and irrigation water outlets that require a key or opening device in Parks and Open Space may only be used or accessed for private use within the terms of a special use permit granted by the Community Services Department. C. Sanitary sewers or storm drains in Parks or Open Space areas may not be used for the clean-out of personal septic systems under any circumstances. R1-35. GATHERING WOOD IN OPEN SPACE AREAS Gathering wood from or possessing wood that has been gathered from Open Space areas is not permitted. R1-36. PARKING RESTRICTIONS No person shall park a motor vehicle, except an authorized emergency vehicle, or when in compliance with the directions of a peace officer, ranger, or City employee, in any of the following places: A. In areas where prohibited by "NO PARKING" or “FIRE LANE - DO NOT BLOCK” signs. B. On any fire trail. C. On any equestrian or hiking trail. D. In such a place or manner as would block or obstruct any gate, entrance, or exit. E. In such a place or manner as to take up more than one marked parking space in any authorized parking area. F. In such a place or manner as to block or obstruct the free flow of traffic. G. Within 15 feet of a fire hydrant. H. Adjacent to any curb painted red. I. In any Park or Open Space land after sunset except pursuant to a written permit. J. In areas signed for permit parking on Park or Open Space land without a written permit. K. In any other place on Park or Open Space land not designated by the City as an authorized area. The gravel parking lot at the Towle Campground at Foothills Park may only be used for parking by persons with camping reservations. There is a limit of 2 vehicles for the eight person campsites and 4 vehicles for sixteen-person campsites. The parking area is restricted to passenger vehicles and small trucks. Recreational vehicles, trailers or other self-contained vehicles (regardless of size, weight or number of axles) are not allowed in the Towle Campground parking lot or beyond the gate at the edge of Orchard Glen Picnic Area. Recreation vehicles or other self-contained vehicles may not be parked in Foothills Park over-night. Non-camping guests should park in the available day-use parking lots. R1-37. OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES No person shall operate, propel, or leave standing any motor vehicle on Park or Open Space land, except: A. Emergency vehicles operated within the scope of official use. B. Upon roads, trails, or paths, which may from time to time be set aside and posted by the City for the use of specifically designated vehicles. C. Upon roads and parking areas open to the public during regular open hours. D. Motor vehicle includes, but is not limited to, any vehicle as defined by section 415 and/or 670 of the California Vehicle Code, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, "dirt bikes", and similar vehicles. This section shall apply to all motorized bicycles, carts, scooters, hoverboards, skateboards, and electric personal assistive mobility devices (Segway or similar device) except those devices used by disabled persons. R1-37A. VEHICLE WEIGHT LIMIT ON BAYLANDS ROADS AND PARKING LOTS No person shall operate or park any vehicle in excess of 6,000 pounds weight on any roads or within any parking lot of the City-owned Baylands or John Fletcher Byxbee Recreational Areas. R1-38. VIOLATION – PENALTY A. The Director shall have authority to revoke a permit upon a finding of violation by the permittee or persons acting under the permit of any regulation contained in this chapter or upon a finding of violation of other City ordinance or law of this state in the exercise of the permit. B. The Director or designee shall have the authority to eject from any park facility any person acting in violation of regulations contained in this chapter. R1-39. PLAYGROUNDS No person shall use personal exercise equipment, including dumbbells and exercise straps, at any playground if it inhibits children from using the playground, or if the exercise equipment negatively impacts the playground surfacing or equipment. R1-40. COMMUNITY GARDENS The City of Palo Alto provides, subject to availability and a license agreement, space for Palo Alto residents to enjoy organic gardening. All persons visiting the Community Gardens must comply with the following rules: A. No dogs are allowed within the fenced area of any garden location except service dogs. PAMC 6.16.100 B. No smoking inside the Community Garden area or on pathways around the garden. PAMC 9.14.050 C. Garden visitors must stay on designated paths, and refrain from picking any produce or flowers subject to PAMC 22.04.270. D. Wood chips at the garden are supplied only for the plot renters at the Community Garden for use within the Community Garden and shall not be removed by unauthorized persons. E. Compost bins are for Community Gardeners use only subject to PAMC 5.20.030. The Director may promulgate guidelines for the registration and use of the community gardens that do not conflict with these rules. R1-41. SIDEWALK VENDORS A. These regulations related to sidewalk vendors implement SB 946 (2018) as codified at Govt. Code 51036 et seq. “Sidewalk vendor” in this regulation shall have the same meaning as that in Govt. Code section 51036. B. Sidewalk vendors shall not operate in the following areas in Palo Alto parks: 1. Maintenance or storage yards; 2. Parking lots, parking stalls or designated parking areas; 3. Trails less than 8 feet wide; 4. Grass, synthetic turf, synthetic track and vegetated areas. (Vendors may only be on hardscape areas such as asphalt, concrete, decomposed granite, and dirt trails that are at least 8-feet wide); 5. Recreation areas designated for specific sports or activities (playing fields, courts, skateparks, etc.); 6. In any location that interferes in any way with anyone engaged in a physical activity or entering onto any playing field, sport, or similar facility for use by participants or approaching spectators who are watching a sporting activity; 7. Within 100 feet of any building, recreation center, senior center, bathroom, structure, or playground. Sidewalk vendors must not in any way impact the use and operation of these facilities; 8. Anywhere in the Baylands Athletic Center and Stanford Palo Alto Playing Fields when snack shacks are open for business and are designated by the City as an exclusive concession; 9. Within 5 feet of park benches; 10. Within 25 feet of picnic tables; 11. Within 25 feet of any fountain, monument, or art installation; 12. Any park or open space area that has an exclusive permitted food provider (e.g. the Baylands Golf Links); and 13. Any portion of a park or open space within 250-feet of any school site during instructional hours; C. Sidewalk vendors operating in the following open space areas are permitted only in the areas specifically designated as follows: 1. Baylands Nature Preserve In the following area of the Baylands Nature Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors. In the following area of the Baylands Nature Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors. In the following area of the Baylands Nature Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors. 2. Esther Clark Park There are no locations for sidewalk vendors at Esther Clark Park. Esther Clark Park has no areas that allow for sidewalk vending due the fact it has no sidewalk or paved areas, as well as its location in a single-family residential neighborhood. The park is undeveloped and has no parking lots. 3. Foothills Nature Preserve In the following area of the Foothills Nature Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors. 4. Pearson Arastradero Preserve In the following area of the Pearson Arastradero Preserve, there is a limit of 1 vendor at a time (first come first served). Any additional vendors would start to block access for park visitors and reduce available parking. D. Sidewalk vendors in all park and open space areas shall comply with the following: 1. Sidewalk vending (including set-up and clean-up) is permitted only between 9:00 A.M. and 30 minutes prior to sunset and must vacate the park by sunset. 2. No vending conveyance, stand, or pushcart shall touch, lean against, or be affixed to any lamp post, parking meter, mailbox, traffic signal, picnic table, fire hydrant, tree, plant, planter box, rock formation, bench, bus shelter, or trash can. 3. Nothing in these regulations authorizes vending of personal services including but not limited to boot camps, massage services, yoga, dog training, animal rides, petting zoos, or sports/fitness classes. 4. Cannot sell products whose use is prohibited in the park, including tobacco and cannabis. 5. Cannot sell unsanitary or unsafe, dangerous, or harmful food, beverage, or merchandise. Including archery equipment, knives, sling shots, or any objects that appear to be weapons, such as squirt guns, toy guns, or toy knives. 6. Are responsible for clean-up, storage, and subsequent removal from the park or preserve of any waste, food items, package, litter, or materials occurring because of or related to their vending activity. 7. Are prohibited from placing any liquid or solid waste in park trash cans, including dumping ice on park property. Vendors must pack out their garbage and waste, including grease. 8. Are prohibited from hooking up to or using any water, electrical, or gas outlets for the sale of their food or merchandise. 9. Are prohibited from using park benches and picnic tables. 10. For parks, the number of vendors per park are limited (a) to two (2) vendors per acre and not within 25 feet of another vendor, and (b) not to exceed eight (8) at any one time. For open space areas, only one vendor at a time is allowed in the designated area (see maps) 11. Vending in park shall be on a first come first available basis. 12. Vending is prohibited during any City sponsored or permitted special event (e.g., festival, concert, movie night, class, carnival, parade, running event, class, or other permitted activity). 13. In open space areas, sidewalk vendors shall not make any outcry, blow a horn, ring a bell, or use any sound devices or musical instruments for the purpose of attracting the attention of potential patrons. APPROVED: City Manager Date: Director, Community Services Adopted by City Council June 24, 2002; Revised June 28, 2004; Revised January 24, 2005. Revised February 3, 2006. Revised April 14, 2008. Revised March 14, 2011. Revised November 19, 2012 Revised May 20, 2013, Revised March 5, 2018, Revised February 2, 2021.